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As climate talks resumed in Bonn, Germany on 9 April 2010, following the chaotic conclusion of the Copenhagen meetings in December last year, developing countries called for the rebuilding of trust and confidence.

The African Group, represented by the Democratic Republic of Congo said that if “we are to avoid the repeat of what happened in Copenhagen and repair this damaged process, then we must learn from Copenhagen.”

The African Group, reflecting on what happened in Copenhagen said that it saw “the sidelining of the two-track multilateral process, the emergence of a secret text put together by a selected few that later became known as the Copenhagen Accord and the blatant attempt to discard the Kyoto Protocol. These mistakes fundamentally broke the trust that is very necessary for any partnership that aspires to be successful and enduring to work.”

The ninth session of Ad-hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the eleventh session of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex 1 Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) are set for a brief session of three days which ends on 11 April, to mainly focus on the organization of work and organizational matters for the two working groups for agreed outcomes at the UN climate change conference to be held in Cancun, Mexico in December this year.

Speaking for the G77 and China, Ambassador Abdullah M. Alsaidi of Yemen said that the mandate of the AWG-LCA is to continue its work for an outcome in Mexico, and that the work process must be an open, democratic, party-driven, transparent, inclusive, legitimate and accountable one which centers around the implementation of the Bali Action Plan.

With respect to the organization and methods of work of the AWG-LCA in 2010, the G77 and China highlighted the following:

- The centrality of the UNFCCC must be preserved and respected i.e. that the only venue for climate change negotiations is the UNFCCC framework;
- The AWG-LCA must resume its work as soon as possible and make progress on the four building blocks of mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology as well as the shared vision, with the objective of the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention;
- Sufficient sessions for negotiations for the AWG-LCA are necessary and should be no less than three; likewise, the participation of the developing countries, especially from the least developed countries (LDCs) and small island states (SIDS), in these meetings must be supported. In this regard, the Group pointed out its preference to holding such meetings in New York or Geneva to ensure greater participation by developing countries.

The G77 and China reiterated its belief in the importance of maintaining the centrality of the multilateral process within the UNFCCC framework.

Speaking for the African Group, the Democratic Republic of Congo said that if “we are to avoid the repeat of what happened in Copenhagen and repair this damaged process, then we must learn from Copenhagen.”

The African Group said that the priority must therefore be to restore the trust, rebuild confidence and thereby salvage the process. This it said can be done by:

-Returning to the two-track multilateral negotiation process;
-Committing to the UNFCCC process as the only forum for the negotiation of a global and legally binding outcome;
-Working on the basis of the AWG documentation forwarded from COP 15 and the CMP 5 (referring to the meeting of Parties under the Kyoto Protocol); and
- Negotiating the terms of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

Grenada, speaking for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) said that Copenhagen did not achieve the outcome that was expected from Bali which was to address the climate challenge as reported by the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Lesotho, speaking for the LDCs called for the restoration of confidence and the building of trust in the process. It said that the negotiation process must be transparent and inclusive.

Carbon trading is unjust, it will not work, and it is a false solution

In the wake of a controversial outcome at the Copenhagen climate talks, a diverse crowd of scientists, Faith congregation, activists, students, and concerned citizens converged in confrontation and protest at the 2nd Annual Global Forum Carbon Trading Summit. The summit is the largest annual meeting place of corporations, banks, and lobby groups to further the agenda of a carbon trading scheme to address climate change. Activists rallied to oppose market-based trading of greenhouse gas emissions credits and call for real solutions to the climate crisis. Demonstrators engaged in nonviolent direct action and risked arrest in attempt to blockade a portion of the venue’s revolving doors to display a banner decrying carbon trading as a false solution.

“The same Wall Street bankers who gave us the global climate crisis are trying to own the sky,” stated Brian Tokar, director of the Institute for Social Ecology and an organizer of this week’s protest events. “Carbon trading is unjust, it will not work, and it is a false solution. It is a dangerous distraction from the urgent measures needed to prevent an ever-worsening destabilization of the climate.”

Speakers at the rally included Reverend Billy of the Church of Life After Shopping, who delivered a critique with the fire and brimstone of a televangelist; Bhaia Heller, Professor of Womens Studies at Mount Holyoke University and Father Paul Mayer, co-founder of the Climate Crisis Coalition and religious community leader.

Participants inside the Carbon Trading Summit will include executives from JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Duke Energy and more.

“I don’t trust these people to make decisions about the future of humanity,” said one young participant, who wished not to give her name because she will be risking arrest today. “If we follow through with market-based solutions like carbon trading, everyone will regret it. We need to stop believing the corporations’ false solutions and put all our collective energy into getting this conversation onto a track that’s useful.”

Dr. James Hansen, renowned climate scientist, was present outside the Carbon Trading Summit yesterday to voice his opposition to carbon trading schemes.

“Cap-and-trade is not a smart approach,” wrote Hansen his book Storms of My Grandchildren. Hansen has stated that current US climate legislation is “worse than nothing” because it relies on risky and ineffective cap-and-trade. He also declared that the failure to reach an agreement in Copenhagen was a better outcome than adopting the carbon-trade-based approach that was being negotiated.

“Carbon trade, which includes cap and trade and offsets are a dangerous distraction, economically risky, and prone to gaming and speculation,” stated Dr. Maggie Zhou, from Secure Green Future and Climate SOS stated. “Offsets allow polluters to simply pay someone else somewhere else to reduce their emissions on your behalf, which in the end does nothing to actually reduce emissions. The climate crisis simply can’t wait!

“Carbon trade is an insidious threat to human rights,” stated Dr. Rachel Smolker from Biofuelwatch and Climate SOS. “It turns rights to pollute the atmosphere, as well as forests, soils and agriculture practices that store carbon into commodities to be bought and sold as excuses for polluters. This is the greatest corporate grab on the “global commons” ever! It is disastrous for most of humanity.