Hopes that significant progress on a global treaty on climate change will be cemented in Cancun remained high as the United Nations-led summit went into its final hours – well past its 6pm deadline on Friday.
There was near- mass approval from countries on a compromise text that the Mexican president of the summit Patricia Espinosa had presented to delegates mid-day. She was moved to tears as she received a standing ovation from the conference, which was optimistic that this was the breakthrough that they had been waiting for.
Major countries such as the United States, China, Japan, the European Union and the entire Africa bloc, spoke out in support of the deal.
They recognized that the deal was not perfect but that it had made remarkable progress and was a starting point for a legally binding deal eventually, possibly to be inked in Durban, South Africa next year where the next conference is due to be held.
The only country to speak out against it was Bolivia – who had arrived at the talks making hardline demands right at the start. Its negotiator Pablo Solon said a clearer commitment to a second period of the Kyoto Protocol was needed, and he questioned the absence of greenhouse gas reduction target figures in the text.
Many ministers and negotiators who spoke out said these were details, however, that could be worked on – but the overall text was a “very balanced package” that reflected the “spirit of compromise”.
Chief US negotiator Todd Stern said the deal “while not perfect, is certainly a good basis for moving forward,” and highlighted the hope that what was achieved in Cancun would “put the world on a more hopeful path toward a low-emissions and sustainable future.”
The compromise text creates a $100 billion annual green fund by 2020 for developing countries vulnerable to climate change and sets out payments to protect forests.
It did not have specific binding targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but recognized that
“deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions are required according to science … with a view to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions so as to hold the increase in global average temperatures below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels”.
The Maldives negotiator Mohamed Aslam and India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh received rousing applause for their statements at an emotional segment of the conference late Friday night – the first airing of views of the new text by leaders.
“If you hear the applause in the audience, you can feel the mood,” said Mr Aslam.
Mr Ramesh declared to the conference: “Tonight, God has been very close to Mexico… you’ve not only crafted a balanced agreement, but most important you have restored the confidence of the world community in the multilateral process.”
This time last year, the atmosphere could not have been more different. Talks disintegrated in Copenhagen last year in spectacular fashion after an agreement called the Copenhagen Accord, brokered by a handful of nations including the US, China and EU, angered developing nations who felt excluded. There had been doubts of the UN process, with critics saying that a deal that needed consensus from 194 nations would be next-to-impossible to achieve.
At Cancun, delegates spoke highly and warmly of the Mexican presidency, with some nations pledging full support for the new text even though the formal adoption process had yet to conclude.
Singapore Minister S Jayakumar told the summit that although the text had some missing elements, such as language on the deal being a legally binding agreement, we should “look at this document not as an end but as a step forward”.
All eyes are now focused on the Mexican resort of Cancun for the final outcome, which will now be decided on Saturday as the talks get extended. The conference has disbanded into working groups before convening for one final, formal plenary where countries will decide whether or not to adopt the compromise text as the official UN document for climate change.
