Durban Climate Change Summit

The 2011  United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Durban, South Africa, from 28 November to 9 December 2011.

TRANSCRIPT

Delegates from nearly 200 nations will meet in Durban, South Africa, this week to discuss international action on climate change. Their goal: to reach a new legal agreement on greenhouse gas emissions.

Here’s Kenya’s NTV.

“Countries around the world are still deadlocked on how to stop or slow down global warming. An international treaty signed in 1997 known as the Kyoto Protocol, meant to regulate how much of the problematic gasses countries can emit, expires next year. And there is a rush to finalize a new deal.”

The Kyoto Protocol set different targets for developing and developed nations. Because of that, the U.S. never ratified the protocol. Now, The New York Times reports other nations are raising the same concerns.

“The protocol is up for renewal next year with some major countries, including Canada, Japan and Russia, saying they will not agree to an extension unless it is fundamentally changed to remove the unbalanced requirements ... That is similar to the U.S. position, which is that any successor treaty must apply equally to all major economies, including fast-growing developing countries like China and India.”

The other big issue at Durban will be the establishment of a $100 billion fund to help poor countries deal with the damage caused by climate change. But details of how the fund will be handled are still up in the air..

The BBC explains.

“Developing countries say the public coffers of industrialised nations should be the main source, whereas western governments say the bulk must come from private sector sources. That is unlikely to be resolved until the end of next year. But finalising the fund's rules in Durban would be a concrete step forward.”

The U.N. body’s targets include cutting greenhouse emissions in half by 2050 and limiting global warming to less than two degrees. But with all the funding and legal debates expected at Durban, the way forward looks uncertain.

But there’s some hope as individual governments take it upon themselves to cut emissions outside of any treaty. A delegate from Australia, where the government just passed a carbon tax, told VOA News...

“I think it’s hard to get nearly 200 countries to agree. And what we’re finding is that a lot of countries are doing more domestically than perhaps they’re prepared to agree to internationally.”

The summit begins Monday and is scheduled for two weeks. Activists are hoping to organize an Occupy protest for the duration of the summit.

ALSO SEE
• Durban Climate Change Conference (official UN site)
• Durban climate change conference 2011 (The Guardian)
• Durban Climate Talks: Last chance for the US (Greenpeace)