Thirty years have passed since the Rio summit, when a global system was set up that will bring the two countries together on a regular basis to try to resolve the climate crisis. Here are the most important and weak points since then.
After several years of preparation, the first party conference took place in Berlin, setting the stage for the upcoming cops. It soon became clear that countries needed a way to put into practice the objectives of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate system – by limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
Delegates attend the inaugural session of the Rio Summit in Rio 92, 12 June 1992. Photo: Daniel García / AFP / Getty Images
For the first time, a goal was set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: the goal was to reduce them by about 5% compared to 1990 to 2012 levels, with all developed countries adopting national targets while developing countries they were allowed to continue to increase their emissions.
But the US Congress would not ratify the treaty, which meant that the protocol could not enter into force. The cops continued every year, but there seemed to be no way around the central political stalemate.
Carbon emissions have continued to rise for the past 30 years since the Rio Earth Summit – chart
And then the Kyoto Protocol was saved from a pile of history from an unexpected source – Russia. She wanted to join the World Trade Organization and proposed ratification of the protocol as a quid pro quo.
Russia’s decision in October 2004 brought the protocol into force. But since the United States is still opposed to the protocol, it can only have limited impact. Most countries eventually met the tight conditions of their Kyoto commitments, but this had little effect on global emissions as China and the United States continued to increase carbon production in the 2000s, with China ahead of the United States as its largest source of carbon dioxide. emissions.
Kevin Conrad. Photo: Ben Stansall / AFP / Getty Images
With the current Kyoto Protocol, but largely toothless, the UN has realized that it will have to find a new way forward. So Ivo de Boer, who was appointed UNFCCC Executive Secretary in 2006, proposed a roadmap that would lead to a replacement or successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which would include all countries. The controversial and tense meeting continued long after Friday’s deadline for concluding talks, as the US delegation – permanently on the line at the George W. Bush White House – refused to agree to anything. Finally, as delegates from developing countries became increasingly irritated, one took the floor. Kevin Conrad of Papua New Guinea told the United States: “We are asking for your leadership, we are looking for your leadership, but if you do not want to lead, please get out of the way.
With that, the United States finally agreed to sign the Bali Roadmap, with the ultimate goal being an emissions agreement to be signed by the end of 2009.
There were high hopes in Copenhagen that an agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol could be signed by all developing and developing countries. But as the conference approached, it became clear that a full-fledged new treaty would not happen, and officials tried to lower expectations in previous months by making it clear that Copenhagen would only make a “political declaration”.
Scientist standing in front of a globe gives a speech to the Cop in Copenhagen, December 15, 2009. Photo: Axel Schmidt / AFP / Getty Images
In this case, even this proved almost impossible to achieve. The Danes have lost control of the UNFCCC’s complex procedures, and China was reluctant to sign any deal that would have reduced emissions. World leaders who arrived on the last day of the conference were greeted by scenes of chaos.
Barack Obama and other leaders have finally managed to sign all the world’s major emission sources, including China, to agree on greenhouse gas emissions targets for 2020. But this achievement – which marked the first time that developed and developing countries have worked together. they agreed to take responsibility for reducing greenhouse gases – it was largely ignored by the rest of the world, which saw only strife and horror.
In Cancun, the political declaration reached in Copenhagen was finally adopted in legal form through a series of decisions by cops under the UNFCCC. The Cancun agreements formalized the national goals of all countries by 2020.
The failure to write a new protocol or legally binding treaty in Copenhagen has revealed the fragility of the UN process. Fortunately, then-EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard had a plan to get the parties to agree on a roadmap for a new treaty – the plan that eventually led to the Paris Agreement.
EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard in 2012 Photo: John Thys / AFP / Getty Images
The EU has faced opposition from China and India, and talks have resumed well since Friday’s deadline. But the EU did not deviate, instead assembling a coalition of developed and developing countries. Isolated, China and India retreated and the world took the road to Paris.
The French were determined to avoid Copenhagen’s mistakes and spent the year before the conference in continuous “360-degree diplomacy.” World leaders flew in early to instruct their teams to reach an agreement, and some of the most difficult issues were fined – the $ 100 billion promise to poor countries made in Copenhagen was reaffirmed, and national emission reduction targets were set in indefinite – a binding annex to the legally binding contract and the question of whether to set a temperature limit of 1.5C or 2C, resolved by including both.
Art installation of the Eiffel Tour in Paris by artist Ian Thomas, drawing attention to man-made energy, December 2015. Photo: Ian Langsdon / EPA
The final agreement was the first time the parties set a global temperature limit that everyone pledged to abide by.
Extinction Rebellion activists are holding a Cop26 funeral on November 13, 2021 in Glasgow. Photo: Peter Summers / Getty Images
Fun for a year because of the Covid pandemic, Cop26 would always be a decisive cop. The national commitments, known as the NDC, that the states accepted in the Paris Agreement were insufficient to keep the world in 2C, so stricter targets were essential. The new science has also shown how dangerous it would be to reach 2C, so a key goal for the UK hosts – to reach an agreement that the countries will seek to limit global warming to 1.5C – has been reached and the parties have also agreed – despite a last-minute break, objections from China and India called for the phasing out of coal.
The agreement was fragile – but it was a significant step forward, as the countries agreed to return in 2022 and each year thereafter with stricter national emission reduction plans.
10
2022: Forward to the future and Egypt
The ink barely dried on the Glasgow Pact as the world began to change in ways potentially catastrophic for hopes of tackling the climate crisis. Rising energy and food prices mean that governments are facing a crisis in the cost of living and energy security, with some threatening to respond by returning to fossil fuels, including coal.
However, the war in Ukraine reinforces the argument for renewable energy, which compares favorably to high fossil fuel prices. He also turned energy and climate into leading national security issues that need to attract the government’s attention.
But geopolitical changes mean that Egypt – generally friendly to Russia, which it relies on for grain, low fuel and tourism – will face a diplomatically difficult task.
Add Comment