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Elements of the Cancun Agreements

The UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, ended on Saturday with the adoption of a package of decisions that set all governments more firmly on the path towards a low-emissions future and support enhanced action on climate change in the developing world, according to the UN Environment Programme. Elements of the Cancun Agreements include:

  • Industrialised country targets are officially recognised under the multilateral process and these countries are to develop low-carbon development plans and strategies and assess how best to meet them, including through market mechanisms, and to report their inventories annually.

  • Developing country actions to reduce emissions are officially recognised under the multilateral process. A registry is to be set up to record and match developing country mitigation actions to finance and technology support from by industrialised countries. Developing countries are to publish progress reports every two years.

  • Parties meeting under the Kyoto Protocol agree to continue negotiations with the aim of completing their work and ensuring there is no gap between the first and second commitment periods of the treaty.

  • The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanisms has been strengthened to drive more major investments and technology into environmentally sound and sustainable emission reduction projects in the developing world.

  • Parties launched a set of initiatives and institutions to protect the vulnerable from climate change and to deploy the money and technology that developing countries need to plan and build their own sustainable futures.

  • A total of US$30 billion in fast start finance from industrialised countries to support climate action in the developing world up to 2012 and the intention to raise US$100 billion in long-term funds by 2020 is included in the decisions.

  • In the field of climate finance, a process to design a Green Climate Fund under the Conference of the Parties, with a board with equal representation from developed and developing countries, is established.

  • A new “Cancun Adaptation Framework” is established to allow better planning and implementation of adaptation projects in developing countries through increased financial and technical support, including a clear process for continuing work on loss and damage.

  • Governments agree to boost action to curb emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries with technological and financial support.

  • Parties have established a technology mechanism with a Technology Executive Committee and Climate Technology Centre and Network to increase technology cooperation to support action on adaptation and mitigation.

The next Conference of the Parties is scheduled to take place in South Africa, from 28 November to 9 December 2011.

Comments

SJC

Sort of the same stuff, you first, it is not our problem and even if it is you have more money so you do all the work.

ai_vin

I think we should lead by example: Do everything we can on our own so that when we go to these things we can say "here's what we're doing, how about you?"

SJC

Provide 10 times more E85 pumps so that more of the FFVs on the road run on it. Replace 100s of coal fired power plants with IGCC. Those would go a long way to reducing emissions. We all know why this will not happen because the collision between should and will is there.

We had time to do all of this and more between 2000-2008 but we did not. Now we are too broke and in debt to do any of that. I think we know who created this situation but it is too late now.

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