Typhoon Haiyan roars through Warsaw climate crisis summit

Typhoon Haiyan heightened calls to urgently tackle climate change and its adverse effects.

Typhoon Haiyan’s trail of devastation in the Philippines prompts three groups of developing countries to call for climate compensation scheme to be rolled out. The call came at the 12-day UN Climate Change Convention’s 19th Conference of the Parties (CoP) that began on November 11, 2013 in Poland's capital Warsaw.

The typhoon devastated Philippines dominated the first day of the Warsaw climate crisis meeting as the country started to count the human cost of one of the most destructive typhoons on record.

Though no major decisions are expected at the conference, the level of progress could be an indicator of the world's chances of reaching a deal in 2015, which is the new landmark year in the UN-led process after a 2009 summit in Copenhagen ended in discord.

In an emotional speech the lead climate change envoy of the Philippines Yeb Sano said he would fast until he saw a sign of real ambition at the negotiations.

He said the violence of the tropical storm demonstrated the need for a climate compensation mechanism, which could help countries affected by extreme weather events.

“Developed country emissions reductions targets are dangerously low and must be raised immediately, but even if they were in line with the demand of reducing 40-50 percent below 1990 levels, we would still have locked-in climate change and would still need to address the issue of loss and damage,” he said.

Yeb Sano said: “We can stop this madness. Right here in Warsaw. “It is not natural when people continue to struggle to eradicate poverty and pursue development and gets battered by the onslaught of a monster storm now considered as the strongest storm ever to hit land.

It is not natural when science already tells us that global warming will induce more intense storms. It is not natural when the human species has already profoundly changed the climate.

Poorest people

“Disasters are never natural. They are the intersection of factors other than physical. They are the accumulation of the constant breach of economic, social, and environmental thresholds. Most of the time disasters is a result of inequity and the poorest people of the world are at greatest risk because of their vulnerability and decades of maldevelopment, which I must assert is connected to the kind of pursuit of economic growth that dominates the world; the same kind of pursuit of so-called economic growth and unsustainable consumption that has altered the climate system.

“This process under the UNFCCC has been called many names. It has been called a farce. It has been called an annual carbon-intensive gathering of useless frequent flyers. It has been called many names. But it has also been called the Project to save the planet. It has been called “saving tomorrow today”. We can fix this. We can stop this madness. Right now. Right here, in the middle of this football field.

“Can humanity rise to the occasion? I still believe we can.” Sano’s words were echoed throughout the opening ceremony. Following Sano’s intervention, three groups representing just over half of the countries involved in the CoP issued a call for immediate talks on the development of a loss and damage mechanism.

The G77 + China, Least Developed Countries and Alliance of Small Island States said this was now a priority for their members in the wake of the Philippines disaster.

“It’s unacceptable that some continue to sideline this issue, or fob it off as a ‘research agenda’ item,” said G77 lead negotiator Juan Hoffmaister.

Negotiators will face a host of recurring stumbling blocks, including money to help poor countries convert to cleaner energy sources and adapt to a shifting climate that may lead to disruptions of agriculture and drinking water, and the spread of diseases.

Developed nations, who fear being landed with bills running into hundreds of billions, indicated they were willing to discuss a ‘mechanism’, but would not be drawn on what its powers could be.

The USA’s deputy climate negotiator Trigg Talley told a press conference there were “technical and political” challenges to accepting any form of compensation scheme, suggesting they would consider a process that “takes advantage of current institutional infrastructure and allows countries to understand how to minimise risks linked to loss and damage.”

There are fears among some parties that a heavy focus on climate compensation in Warsaw could come at the expense of other aims, notably agreeing financial targets and a roadmap for a 2015 climate deal.

UN climate chief Christiana Figueres urged countries to clarify the levels of finance available to drive low carbon development.

Japan and Sweden are set to reveal new climate finance pledges this week, but there remains a substantial gap between what developing countries say they need to adapt to climate change and what has been delivered.

Lasting legacies

Addressing loss and damage, and progressing with a mechanism to make such payments operational, has potential to be one of the “lasting legacies” of the Warsaw conference, said the delegate from Nepal, representing the Least Developed Countries group, who face some of the worst impacts of climate change. He adds that there is still the opportunity to halt global warming at 1.5C, although this opportunity is fading fast.

The Alliance of Small Island States representative also pushed for an ambitious approach to the negotiations.

Panama, speaking on behalf of the System for Central America Integration group, said that although their region is one of the most vulnerable, they are already using their “scanty resources” to make a difference.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, steered its presentation away from talk of legally binding targets, focusing on the need for voluntary commitments from developing countries, which should be supported by developed countries.Despite being the second largest oil producer in the world, Saudi Arabia is still counted as a developing country by the UN’s climate body.

It has a history of trying to block ambitious action on climate change, intervening in discussions taking place last May to say that tough mitigation targets would be “highly political” and leave a “bad taste.

Climate deal must be “tailored” to fit USA and China Mat Hope writes in Carbon Brief: Sixteen years ago in 1997, 192 countries signed an agreement to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, but the Kyoto Protocol was hamstrung from the start, because it failed to get the backing of two major emitters.

It’s clear that new negotiations will need to be tailored towards the demands of the US and China if a deal is to be struck.

- Third World Network Features