Talks On Climate Change Fall Short

The 10th Conference of the Parties (COP-10) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 21st session (S13 21) of the COP's Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) were held at La Rural Exhibition Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 6-18 December 2004.

OVER 6,100 participants from 167 governments, two observer States, 272 intergovernmental, non-governmental and other observer organisations, and 240 media representatives were in attendance.

During the meeting, Parties addressed and adopted numerous decisions and conclusions on various issues, including technology transfer; issues relating to land use, land-use change and forestry, the UNFCCC's financial mechanism, national communications, capacity building, adverse effects and adaptation, education, training and public awareness. Negotiations relating to a number of issues including the Least Developed Countries Fund, the Special Climate Change Fund and adverse effects of policies and measures were not completed and these issues were forwarded to SB-22 for further consideration.

At the conclusion of the talks, Parties agreed on a proposal to hold a seminar by Government Experts. The purpose of the seminar is to promote an informal exchange of information on actions relating to mitigation and adaptation to assist Parties to continue to develop effective and appropriate responses to climate change, and on policies and measures adopted by governments that support implementation of Parties' existing commitments under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. The understanding among the Parties originally contained plans for a series of informal meetings to discuss the future of the climate regime. At the insistence of the US, this was reduced to one seminar. The US demands, that the meeting agenda should not contain any discussions of future cuts or be reported back at the next negotiations, were finally amended to allow one informal seminar to go ahead.

Saudi Arabia worked alongside the US throughout the meeting and further blocked progress by imposing conditions on making financial assistance available for adaptation in developing countries. In return, it demanded compensation for loss of oil revenues if the world moves away from fossil fuels. The outcome means that discussions on future greenhouse gas cuts will not progress substantially during the coming year and will not ensure that countries most at risk from climate impacts get the assistance they need from the industrialised world.

Negotiations in 2005 will see the Kyoto countries meeting as a group for the first time. The US will have observer status only at this and future Kyoto Protocol meetings unless and until it ratifies the Kyoto Protocol. U.S. President George W. Bush withdrew from the Kyoto agreements in March 2001.

The year 2004 marked the 10^th anniversary of the entry into force of the UNFCCC and, as such, many have been looking back with a sense of accomplishment at the progress achieved over the past decade. In addition, much of the world celebrated when the Russian Federation ratified the Kyoto Protocol, ensuring the continuity of mitigation efforts into the next decade as the Protocol enters into force in early 2005. To make sure that the "house" is in order for the Protocol's imminent entry into force, Parties gathered at COP-10 to complete unfinished business and reassess the building blocks of the process and discuss the framing of a new dialogue on the future of climate change policy. As reflected by an observer's view, the COP-10's deal barely keeps the process moving.