Getting ready for Copenhagen

IDDRI at the heart of climate negotiations

 

On 7 December 2009, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will open in Copenhagen (Denmark). As a key stage in the adoption of a new international climate regime to replace the Kyoto Protocol (1997-2012), the Copenhagen conference will conclude the round of negotiations launched by the Bali conference in December 2007. The priority and the challenge for the international community is to reach an ambitious, fair and effective agreement to ensure a massive, rapid and collective reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet less than two months before the Copenhagen meeting, its outcome is causing a great deal of concern due to the lack of political consensus on some key points of the negotiation.

Although the main obstacle on the road to an agreement in Copenhagen is the low level of emissions reductions proposed by developed countries, other stumbling blocks include: the kind of commitment developing countries will make; the creation of an insurance mechanism for adaptation to climate change; the amount, sources and governance of finance; and the issue of technology transfer and intellectual property rights.

In general, the negotiations are largely being hampered by a lack of trust, which fuels uncooperative attitudes to the detriment of common strategies. Although almost all States are now aware of the importance and urgency of acting, the participants seated at the negotiating table are all keeping their cards close to their chests, waiting until the last minute to show their hand.

In this context, IDRRI, which is both an observer and an actor in the negotiation process, is striving to highlight potential room for manoeuvre and to help to reveal points of convergence.

For the last two years, IDDRI has been focusing specifically on certain research areas (sectoral approaches, combating deforestation, urban policies, finance and adaptation, etc.) and has stepped up its publications and initiatives to inform the debate and facilitate the dialogue: support for Michael Zammit Cutajar, Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA), the European Dialogue on the Energy and Climate Challenge, the Climate Frontrunners initiative to foster informal exchanges between the main negotiators, and the Copenhagen Club, which regularly brings together IDDRI’s industrial and institutional partners in order to share the latest information.

Today, while the last rounds of negotiations are being held on the international scene, IDDRI has launched its web page, Getting ready for Copenhagen, in order to clarify the issues and to follow the negotiations through to their conclusion on 18 December.  

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RECENT PUBLICATIONS

 

* Structuring International Financial Support to Support Domestic Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries, Fankhauser, S., Guérin, E., Hourcade, J.-C., Jackson, H., Neuhoff, K., Rajan, R., Ward J.
This paper is part of the project International Support for Domestic Action (ISDA). Case studies from five developing countries assess the barriers and drivers of actions that shift individual sectors onto low-carbon growth paths. Five cross-cutting papers then explore how international financial mechanisms, technology cooperation, intellectual property aspects, and suitable monitoring and reporting arrangements can enhance the scale, scope and speed of their implementation. The project is coordinated by Karsten Neuhoff (University of Cambridge). [download]

 

* Understanding the new US climate change strategy. The Waxman-Markey bill at a glance, Sophie Galharret and Virginie Marchal
This brief provides an overview of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), passed by US House of Representatives on June 26th 2009. It highlights the key uncertainties surrounding its institutional adoption and operational implementation. It also emphasizes its main differences with the European approach on cap and trade, the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), as well as examines its international implications on carbon markets and negotiations. [download]

 

* Paquet Climat Énergie : Usage et impact des offsets, Sophie Galharret
Following the adoption of the climate and energy package by the European Union, the aim of this summary is to clarify the provisions in force in Europe regarding the quantity of offsets authorised for the 2008-2020 period, as well as the implications for Europe’s reduction efforts relative to a unilateral low-carbon trajectory for 2020. [download]

 

* Post-2012 Climate Change Agreement: Fitting Commitments by Cities, Benoit Lefèvre and Matthieu Wemaere
This article has been written within the framework of “EU and Global Climate Change Policy and the Increasing Role of Cities” CEPS Task Force, chaired by Laurence Tubiana (Iddri, Sciences Po). The objective is to offer a framework to consider “How commitments by cities can fit into a post-2012 climate change agreement?” The paper identifies key elements that need to be taken into account when developing a roadmap that seeks empowerment of local governments in the UN post-2012 framework on climate change. [download] 

 

* Towards a New Governance of High Seas Biodiversity, Julien Rochette (scientific editor)
High seas are at the centre of new exploration and exploitation issues. At a time when it is becoming urgent to rethink the management of areas and resources located beyond national jurisdiction, this publication, a collection of contributions by international experts, provides several different perspectives with the aim of establishing a new governance of high seas biodiversity. [learn more]

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ONLINE

 

* Latest videos

On 21 September, IDDRI and the Sciences Po Sustainable Development Center hosted a special conference by Robert Socolow (Princeton University) and Laurence Tubiana based on the paper "Sharing Global CO2 Emission Reductions Among One Billion High Emitters". [see the video]

 

* Slideshows

On 1 September, David Banister (Professor of Transport Studies at Oxford University and Director of the Transport Studies Unit) presented at IDDRI the issues related to sustainable transport and energy reduction and the recent actions taken to address these problems at the EU and national levels, while placing them in the context of the continuing growth in the demand for travel. [see his presentation]