There was a noticeable change in the attitude of some of the parties today, especially from the G77/China. At the CMP (Conference of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol) meeting this morning, the Chinese delegation took the floor first and furiously described how their minister was rejected access to the Bella Centre three days in a row! Tensions between the developing and developed countries are growing as other G77 countries raised concerns over the name of the COP15, stating that it should be COP15/CMP5. The group said that the current name suggests that the Kyoto Protocol is already dead. It is interesting to note that these concerns were raised the day after the ‘Danish text’ was leaked.
Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, said that it is looking like there will be a second Kyoto Protocol in addition to another agreement, thus continuing with the two-track negotiating process after Copenhagen.
CCS in CDM
Late last night, I attended a Q&A session with the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). As I was on my way over, I walked past the ‘Fossil of the Day’ awards ceremony, which takes place every night. There was a huge gathering and I stopped to listen as I heard the announcement of the second place prize being awarded to The Umbrella Group (which consists of Industrialised non-EU countries, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Norway, Russian Federation, Ukraine, United States and Australia). The ‘Fossil Award’ was given to Umbrella Group for proposing that CCS projects should qualify as CDM projects. The Fossil of the Day website says that three ‘Fossil of The Day’ awards are given to the countries that they consider “perform the worst during the past day’s negotiations”. There were many cheers and claps as The Umbrella Group was awarded their fossil.
The divergence on the issue of CCS in the CDM is clearly not only left to the negotiators in the official meetings! Once I made my way to the CDM EB Q&A, the room was so full that people were sitting on the floor. The question on CCS in the CDM was covered, but the EB told the group that they do not want to work on CCS anymore and that it is time for the COP to make the decision.
CCS CDM intervention
This afternoon, the CMP heard the recommendations from the CDM EB. The overview of the recommendations put forward by the EB caused over two hours of comments by different parties – with most of the time on spent on CCS. The strongest voice for the inclusion of CCS in the CDM was, again, Saudi Arabia; while Brazil and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) again strongly opposed this. After all the parties had spoken, an intervention was given on behalf of those in the business community interested in the inclusion of CCS in the CDM. The WCI was apart of this group and strongly supported the document.
Miss of the day: The possibility that half of the main hall of the Bella Centre could be closed next week due to the number of heads of state attending
Hit of the day: The CCS CDM intervention made on behalf of the business community, including WCI
