Climate Change and Major Emitters

My column in Mindanao Daily, BusinessWeek Mindanao, Cagayan de Oro Times

By KLAUS DORING

 December 12, 2019

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WHILE all of us already experience what climate change is all about, delegates from developing countries have reacted angrily to what they see as attempts to block progress at the COP25 meeting in Madrid. Yes, I get already big problems remaining patient while watching live stream news from Madrid.

One negotiator told the BBC that the talks had failed to find agreement on a range of issues because of the blocking actions of some large emitters. Carlos Fuller from Belize said that Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India and China were "part of the problem".

Other observers said there was a serious risk of failure at the talks.

Daily headlines let me feel bad. Greenland ice melt 'is accelerating'. Amazon oil boom under fire at UN climate talks. And so on and so on ... I am writing this while living in the Philippines -  a country hit most by climate change.

Ministers from all over the world have arrived in Madrid for the high-end negotiations that will determine the final outcome of this conference. Despite a huge climate demonstration on the streets of the Spanish capital last Friday, hopes of an ambitious declaration at COP25 have smacked straight into the realities of politics and entrenched positions.

I am afraid, also "Madrid" won't help anymore. There's an effort right now to block the words 'climate urgency' in text from Brazil and Saudi Arabia, saying we haven't used these words before in the UN, so we can't use them now," said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International.

"This gap between what's happening on the outside and what's happening in the science, and this 'UN speak' that won't react and drive something is very frustrating."

One issue that has caused a good deal of anger are the attempts by Brazil, China, India and Saudi Arabia to have the actions that were due to be completed before 2020 by richer nations, re-examined as part of the overall deal here in Madrid.

Distressing ... .