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Jan 25, 2009
poznan climate talks 2008
Each year the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change holds negotiating sessions known as the "COP" (conference of parties). The most recent one was COP14, that took place in Poznań, Poland in December 2008.
Read our final speech to the delegates and direct reports from Poznań on our blog
news: what did friends of the earth say
- Rich nations to blame for climate inaction and rejection of rights [Dec 12]
- Young people meet EU ministers to demand they 'wrap up' climate change [Dec 11]
- Climate change talks standstill: a human rights threat [Dec 10]
- World Bank unfit to manage climate funds [Dec 8]
more news
The Climate negotiations in brief
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted in 1992 at the Rio Summit and provides a principles of equity for a multilateral agreement on addressing climate change including the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’. This reflects the rich, industrialised nations’ overwhelming contribution to historical emissions and therefore their responsibility in acting first to bring down their national emissions.
After a number of years of intense negotiations, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11th December 1997 and it the Protocol attempts to implement the principles of the Convention agreement. The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012 and governments are currently negotiating the second commitment period of the Protocol as well as addressing the 'implementation gap' of other Convention commitments for finance, technology transfer and adaptation.
These talks are scheduled to be completed in December 2009.
Kyoto comes into force
The Kyoto Protocol came into force on 16 February 2005 after the Russian Parliament ratified the treaty in 2004. Kyoto commits industrialized countries who have ratified it to individual, legally binding targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to and average of 5% from 1990 levels in by 2012.
Climate negotiations continue in Poznań
Each year the UNFCCC holds negotiating sessions known as the "COP" (conference of parties). The most recent one was COP14, that took place in Poznań, Poland in December 2008. Delegates continued their work on the "Bali Action Plan" which was agreed at COP 13. The purpose of the Bali Action Plan is to commence implementation on Convention obligations that have not been met thus far, and also design the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to start after 2012.
Read the reports from the conference on the Friends of the Earth International blog
Friends of the Earth International believes that for the outcomes of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol under the current negotiations to be deemed as legitimate, any agreement reached must be socially, politically, economically and ecologically just and compliant with human rights. Only with a radical global change which is based on climate justice we will be able to prevent the worst consequences of climate change which would hit the poorest people hardest in a sustainable way.
A post-2012 agreement must commit developed countries (Annex I) to make immediate steep emission reductions, support for the respect of land rights and the conservation of the world’s last remaining forests. In addition Annex I countries must make large-scale financial transfers for developing country appropriate adaptation and mitigation with arrangements for appropriate and fair multilateral mechanisms to distribute funds.
Such an agreement should also ensure that the human rights impacts of climate change are taken into account and that the public and civil society have rights of information; public participation and access to justice to ensure that its provisions are developed and applied in an open, fair, transparent and just way.
On the closing day of the COP14 negotiations Friends of the Earth International were invited to give their verdict on the conference. Read it here
reports
REDD myths: A comprehensive critique of a new scheme intended to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation in developing countries.
Read the press release
Download the executive summary [PDF]
Download the full report [PDF]
blog
Read updates from the conference on the Friends of the Earth International blog
audio
Listen to Interviews and news from Real World Radio
news
- Rich nations to blame for climate inaction and rejection of rights [Dec 12]
- Young people meet EU ministers to demand they 'wrap up' climate change [Dec 11]
- Climate change talks standstill: a human rights threat [Dec 10]
- World Bank unfit to manage climate funds [Dec 8]
- Climate talks pressured by global day of action [Dec 5]
- UN climate talks: clash on climate goal [Dec 4]
- Giant loophole in forest plans [Dec 2]
- Forest carbon trading exposed (REDD) [Nov 27]
- Read our climate position paper for the talks [pdf]
further reading
- Read Friends of the Earth International's analysis of COP13 in Bali (2007)
- Find out what happened at the intersessional negotiations in Accra, Ghana (2008)
- The World Bank and climate change
