Bill Hare, head of Greenpeace International's climate team described it "as a mistake of monumental proportions...a bad day for the planet".
The failure of the talks means that the 6th Conference of the Parties (COP6) will now be suspended until May 2001. However, the breakdown masks considerable progress and agreement which should provide the basis of future negotiations.
There were three big issues. First, 'supplementarity' – essentially how much of a country's target is achieved by domestic action rather than buying carbon credits overseas.
The US wanted no restrictions on this, while the EU wanted a 50% cap. The negotiations reached as far as phrases saying "primarily through domestic action" but without a specific cap number. "Progress of sorts", one of the UK negotiating team told BSJ.
The next big issue was that of compliance: what to do when a country fails to meet its target. The negotiations concluded a reasonably tough regime where countries would be penalised through taking emissions in future years, and they would not be able to use the flexible mechanisms such as emissions trading. This would be a strong incentive for the USA whose corporations are increasingly involved in setting up carbon trading pilot schemes.
A small levy, around 2% of project costs, was agreed in principle for an adaptation fund for countries facing serious climatic effects such as sea level rise, drought, floods and storms.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy were recognised as priority options under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for fast-tracking and with simplified project baselines and emission standards. Funding issues were largely resolved, including a significant increase in Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funding, and a new climate change fund set to be no less than $1 billion per year.
The biggest stumbling block throughout was the issue of 'sinks', essentially using forests and soils to sequester carbon, rather than cutting fossil fuel usage or a move to renewable energy. It was clear in Kyoto that the US only signed up to a 7% reduction target on the basis of having flexibility. In the event, the large number of perceived loopholes in this area became too much for the EU member states to accept. It was the ultimate deal killer.
At 07.04 h on the final Saturday, after a marathon all-night session, most EU countries felt that the environmental integrity of the Protocol would be breached. "We could not take this...to our public and pretend it was good enough", said the French Environment Minister, Madame Voynet.
Other issues likely to prove uncontroversial in future related to which technologies would be supported under the CDM, a project based 'flexmex' based in developing countries. This would have probably been targeted at projects less than 50 MW, enough for biomass plants, small geothermal and medium sized wind parks for communities.
As delegates trudged homeward on the last day, with the talks failure weighing heavily on everyone, they all passed a large sand-bag dyke built by Friends of the Earth to remind delegates of the dangers of non-action.
"Climate change won't go away", said one delegate from Samoa, "we will have to come back to the table. We have no choice – regardless of who gets the crazy job of US President."
Source
Building Sustainable Design
