Day 8: Australia in COP17

Today I will cover the role of the Australian Delegation in Durban. Topics are:

1)   Civil Society engaging with Australian Delegation

2)   Australia’s position in climate negotiations

1 – http://adoptanegotiator.org/2011/12/07/minister-combet-arrives-in-durban-with-work-to-do/

This is a short article and video by UN Climate Tracker NGO. It shows the convergence of civil society with government representatives, in this case Mr Gregg Combet, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

The NGO dialogued with Mr. Combet and outlined some suggestions on what certain sectors of society want Australia to commit to and push in Durban. The 2^nd commitment period and the development of the GCF where the main issues noted. Along with this, striving for 1.5 degree temperature rise and the Robin Hood tax were suggested.

Although, as expected, the Minister openly received the comment, it will be unlikely that Australia will be in any capacity to fulfil all of the requested items (see article below). There was, however, agreement in regards to initiating the GCF as soon as possible to ensure financing to the least developed nations.

2 - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/australia-cautious-on-kyoto-extension/story-e6frg6nf-1226216928328?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAustralianNewsNDM+%28The+Australian+|+News+|%29

The Australian newspaper outlines Australia’s position in regards to extending the Kyoto Protocol.

As expected, Australia is encouraging a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol, however it must also incorporate all major emitters, as it has the risk of covering only 15% of global emissions if not everyone signs up.

He also noted Australia’s domestic commitment to addressing climate change at a domestic level via market mechanisms. Along with this, the delegation outlined the country’s commitment to financing adaptation and capacity building to developing countries

Both of these articles show that Australia is committed to a successful outcome in Durban. Although high emitting countries from the G77 have expressed the potential of signing up to legally binding agreements in the future, Australia should still sign up to a second commitment period. This commitment period would act as a roadmap/transition to allow an opportunity for other high emitters to develop mitigation methods that will enable a new legally binding document to be created in the near future.