Adianto P. Simamora and Stevie Emilia, The Jakarta Post, Copenhagen | Mon, 12/14/2009 8:26 AM
Public pressure has forced negotiators to resume talks on settling the draft of the Copenhagen climate conference outcome, which will be submitted to a higher level ministerial meeting.
About 40,000 people held massive protests Saturday, demanding negotiators to agree on the binding treaty on climate change.
Danish police detained 968 protesters, but released most with only 13 remaining in custody Sunday.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) member Saleemul Huq praised the public’s movement to seize initiative from the leaders.
“Regardless of the words presidents and prime ministers decide in a ‘protocol’ or ‘agreement’ next week, it is the people who have put the writing on the wall,” he said Sunday.
“The leaders who choose to read those words will take us forward. Those who ignore them will be swept away by the tide of history.”
Negotiators are expected to debate on Monday the draft text on emission cuts targets and financing as tabled by the president of the conference of parties (COP 15), in an aim to speed up the talks process to avert deadlock as time was running out.
“The core of negotiations has started,” COP 15 president Connie Hedegaard told a plenary Saturday.
Ministers from 192 countries will have their meeting Wednesday to discuss the outcome with their senior officials.
Most developing nations praised the initiative of the “alternative” draft, which takes only seven pages from the original 161 pages.
Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren, representing EU’s 27 nations, said there had been growing understanding that there must be commitments to actions by emerging economies as well.
Head of the US delegation Todd Stern said the draft text of long-term cooperative action (LCA) was a constructive step. “The US is not going to do a deal without the major developing countries stepping up and taking real action.”
The LCA meeting discussed long-term targets of global emission cuts by 2050, which would be legally binding for rich and poor countries to meet the 50 percent global emission reductions.
A draft says developed countries should reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 75 to 85 percent, or at least 80 to 95 or more than 95 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. Negotiators must agree on a figure within those ranges. The remaining emission cuts would then be shared by developing countries.
Indonesian delegates remained silent on the LCA draft text. “We respect the initiative of draft text is it would bring negotiations back on track as in the Bali road map,” negotiator Ghafur Dharmaputra said.
Indonesia has proposed a 26 percent emission cut by 2020. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will join 110 world leaders at the Dec. 17 and 18 conference.
