12 December 2010 Media Statement
Labour: Cancun Climate Deal “Looks like Six out of Ten”

Labour’s Environment Spokesperson, Charles Chauvel, says from COP16 in Cancun that a deal was reached a few hours ago.

“Early Saturday morning local time, the talks reached a consensus deal, with only Bolivia objecting. The Mexican chair of the conference ruled that “consensus” meant that the text could be approved over the objection of just one country,” Charles Chauvel said.

“On first, impressions, the deal looks like it should be marked 6 out of 10. It’s good to see a 2 deg limit in temperature rises reaffirmed; it’s good to see a climate fund established with guaranteed representation from small island states and technology transfer expertise provided for.

“It’s bad to see how weak the deal is on dealing with deforestation, especially in the developing world. This means there is little hope for progress on immediate improvement on rules on forestry and agriculture. It’s also weak on ongoing emissions reductions obligations for the big polluters like the US and China – if real progress is ever to be made, their emissions have to be tackled head on,” Charles Chauvel said.

A quick summary of what has been agreed is as follows:

(1) Confronting Climate Change:

- The "deep cuts" in carbon emissions blamed for global warming to keep temperatures from called for in the Copenhagen accord are carried over, as is the key goal of preventing temperatures from rising no more than 2 degrees C,
and a study to look at how to keep them below 1.5 deg is called for;

- Requires developed countries party to the Kyoto Protocol (including NZ, but not the US) to cut emissions by 25-40% by 2020 over 1990 levels;

(2) Helping Developing Countries:

- New market mechanisms to help developing nations curb carbon emissions are to be discussed in detail at COP17;

- A Green Climate Fund is created to administer money from wealthy nations – the EU, the US and Japan have pledged $30bn now and $100bn after 2020 - to help developing nations adapt to climate change and move their economies away from reliance on polluting technology as they develop;

- The World Bank is to be interim trustee of the Fund, which is to have a 24-member board with equal representation by developed and developing nations, and include representatives from small island states;
- A new organisation is created to help distribute the technical know-how to developing nations to contain emissions and adapt to climate change;

(3) Deforestation:

- Asks developing nations to draft anti-deforestation plans;
- Urges all nations to respect the rights of indigenous people;

(4) The Future of Kyoto

- Developed nations to discuss a new round of emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol prior to its expiry at the end of next year;

- Does not require nations to inscribe their post-2012 commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.”

ends

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