The UN Conference on Climate Change took place in Cancun (Mexico) from 29 November to 10 December 2010 and was attended by almost all Congo Basin countries. This meeting also hosted the 16^th CdP to the UN Framework Agreement on Climate Change and the 6^th CdP operating as the meeting of parties to the Kyoto Protocol (PK), as well as the 33^rd SBI and SBSTA sessions, the 15^th AWG-KP session and the 13^th AWG-LCA. 

 

The representatives of Central African countries to Cancun negotiations held the common position on climate change issued at the 6^th COMIFAC Ministers Council in Kinshasa. The delegation of COMIFAC negotiators at Cancun was accompanied by COMIFAC Executive Secretary, financial and technical partners, included in the Congo Basin delegation. Following long negotiations up to 11 December morning, the Cancun summit on climate change ended with the signing of a joint agreement by consensus called the “Cancun Agreement”.  It is accompanied by a series of documents which represent the base for addressing climate-related matters after the expiration the Kyoto Protocol. This agreement also includes the creation of a green fund to be put in place in 2011 and which may reach $30 billion in 2012, with a balance distribution between the funding of adaptation and mitigation measures, with a particular focus on the funding of immediate measures for the adaptation of developing countries (DC) to global warming et $100 billion in 2020 to meet needs in DC which may include long term projects for the protection of the environment as well as adaptation and mitigation measures.

 

In conclusion, the UN Conference on Climate Change in Cancun revealed remarkable progress in the following aspects (1) the formalisation of promises to reduce emissions (Kyoto Protocol), (2) the responsibility of each party to take concrete measures to protect world forests, (3) the creation of a fund to control climate change in the long term, (4) enhancing technological cooperation and (5) the adaptation of the most vulnerable populations to climate change.

 

If you want to see the full results of the negotiations, please visit the official website of the Cancun Conference

To learn more,

Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention  

Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol at its fifteenth session

Read COMIFAC Ministers Common Position on Climate Change again

Download the CIFOR Press Release on Forestry Days 5

@Photo - UNFF

 

The UN Framework Agreement on Climate Change sets up a global framework for intergovernmental effort to face the challenge of climate change. It acknowledges that climate is a shared resource whose stability may be affected by industrial CO2 emissions, as well as other greenhouse gas.

 

The Kyoto Protocol has the same objectives, principles and institutions as the Convention but significantly strengthens the Convention by committing the Parties Appendix I to individual, legally binding objectives to reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions.

 

U.N. talks to delay CO2 market deal for forests: EU

The European Union wants to delay a deal to use carbon markets to reward countries which protect their tropical forests, beyond U.N. climate talks in Cancun, said EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard.

 

Put deserts on climate agenda, UN official says

As negotiators near a deal on preserving forests as a way to fight climate change, a top advocate for deserts says that the planet's driest lands should also play a role.

 

REDD: Climate conference ends with deforestation agreement

For a climate change conference that began with universally low expectations, the Cancun meeting achieved surprisingly concrete progress, including an agreement to help preserve tropical forests.

 

Scientists aim to map and save endangered habitats

From mangrove swamps in Venezuela to lowland forests in Indonesia, entire communities of plants and animals are under threat. Now scientists are figuring out how to catalog and map the world's most threatened ecosystems — just like their familiar list of endangered species.

 

Seeing Redd in Cancún

Because developed countries need a token 'win' at the climate talks, Cancún will approve a ruinous forest protection scam.

 

The loneliest man in Cancun? Maybe the deforestation advocate

The loneliest man at the Cancun climate conference? It just might be Alan Oxley of the group World Growth. Why? Oxley and his people are advocating deforestation. Or as they like to call it, "land conversion."

 

Thousands of plant species 'undiscovered in cupboards'

More than 35,000 new species of flowering plants may be lying undiscovered in cupboards around the world, it is claimed.

 

UN chief urges forest deal to show climate progress

UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged an accord on fighting deforestation to help win over a public growing "cynical" as crunch climate change talks entered their final stretch in Mexico.

 

U.N. nears agreement to curb destruction of world's rain forests

For years, policymakers and scientists alike have spoken of the need to save tropical forests as a way of curbing climate change. By week's end, U.N. negotiators may finally set the rules of the road for doing it

 

Google unveils satellite platform to aid forest efforts

Google Inc unveiled technology it says will help build trust between rich and poor countries on projects designed to protect the world's tropical forests.

 

Grassland butterflies in steep decline across Europe

Drop in 17 species' populations indicates a catastrophic loss of flower-rich meadows in many European countries.

 

How forest privatisation could attract biofuel energy companies

Industry analysts predict land could be snapped up by energy companies looking to burn wood as a biofuel.

 

How to make communities see green over REDD?

Forests are the lifeblood for millions of people around the world. Murniah, a 40-year-old mother of one in Mentaya Seberang village in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan Province, knows this only too well.

 

Forest projects inch forward despite climate talks logjam

International projects generating voluntary carbon credits by protecting forests are slowly moving forward despite blocked U.N. climate talks, emissions markets developers said.

 

Four myths that hold back progress in fighting climate change

For the Cancún climate summit to make a difference, we must overcome perceived barriers to the efficient use of resources.

 

Deforestation 'not so important for climate change'

Climate negotiations were dealt a bombshell at the weekend when ecologists reported that carbon emissions from the destruction of tropical forests are probably only half previous estimates.

 

Ecologists desert Cancún's sinking ship

The chances of a legally binding deal to tackle climate change are looking increasingly slim as the negotiations in Cancún, Mexico, enter their final days. So much so that even environmentalists are deserting the sinking ship.

 

Climat: ce qui coince encore à Cancun

Les ministres de l’Environnement de plus de 190 pays ont entamé le dernier round des négociations. Plusieurs dossiers sont sur la table.

 

Climat, une route sans fin?

Vous ne savez que dire à propos des négociations sur le climat en cours à Cancun? Une suggestion, pour votre prochain dîner en ville: opinez, d’un air entendu, qu’en dépit de la débâcle de Copenhague "nous pouvons attendre de Cancun, sur la lancée du PAB, des avancées sur le REDD +, les NAMA, les UTCATF et les MRV, sans oublier le MDP, naturellement…".

 

Climate change affects toads, salamanders: study

Climate change is affecting the breeding cycles of toads and salamanders, researchers reported, in the first published evidence of such changes on amphibians.

 

Climate-change conference looks at deforestation

Pedro Chuc May climbs a big zapote tree, braces himself against the trunk with a rope sling and uses his sharp machete to slash V-shaped cuts in the rough bark to let the tree's resin - the base for natural chewing gum - flow into a cut-off soda bottle below.

 

Climate change link to forest fires

A new report identifies global warming as a driver of forest fires in northern latitudes.

 

Climate change threat to tropical forests 'greater than suspected'

Met Office Hadley Centre warns of drought risk and role of deforestation in global warming.

 

Climate deal to pay to protect forests

A new climate change deal reached in Mexico has set up a global framework to pay to protect rainforests vital to the ecosystem, but held off on the controversial introduction of a market role.

 

Climate pact should help rather than hurt people of tropical forests

The news story "Pact could be near to save tropical forests" overlooked critical issues with respect to Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), the global mechanism being developed by the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change to allow countries to protect forests by selling carbon credits.

 

Climate: speaking the truth on avoided deforestation and warming in Cancún

Someone speaking the truth—it's an unusual occurrence at any government event (unless you have a link to Wikileaks) and it's even rarer at the highly stage-managed U.N. climate talks. But that's exactly what happened last night in Cancún at an event put on by Avoided Deforestation Partners, an NGO dedicated to promoting REDD, or Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

 

Climate talks back $100 billion aid fund, forest protection; no Kyoto deal

Envoys at United Nations talks agreed to a package aimed at limiting global warming by protecting forests, advising nations on adapting to higher temperatures and opening a $100 billion Green Climate Fund.

 

Climate talks set to agree deal to save the forests

Nothing, as they say at UN conferences, is agreed until everything is agreed. But as the climate conference in Cancún runs into its final hours, delegates are confident that at least something has been salvaged from the diplomatic wreckage.

 

Community forests show the way forward at Cancun climate talks

What is a tree worth? To some it is shelter, to others food and to many of us a commodity.

 

A Cancun, les peuples autochtones craignent un accord sur les forêts sans eux

Ils connaissent parfaitement la forêt, savent comment la préserver et souffrent directement de la déforestation: au coeur d'un des grands dossiers en négociation à la conférence climat de Cancun, les peuples autochtones craignent pourtant de ne pas être entendus.

 

At Cancun conference, blunt talk on forests

At a packed event here in Cancun focused on curbing deforestation, a couple of national leaders did something that rarely happens in politics: They spoke the unvarnished truth.

 

Banksy's Jungle Book 'executions': an image too far?

An image of Mowgli and the gang lined up for execution in front of a clear-felled forest, created for Greenpeace, is being sold at auction.

 

Big business backs deforestation deal

Cancún meeting designed to demonstrate corporate approval of efforts to protect tropical forests.

 

Blue tongue, blight, beetles pester a warmer world

Beetles killing trees in North America, blue tongue disease ravaging livestock in Europe, and borers destroying African coffee crops are examples of migrating invasive species not getting enough attention at global climate talks, scientists said.

 

Blunt talk on protecting forests to combat climate change

What exactly is the hold-up in terms of Norway's forestry assistance to Guyana, which Guyana's president Bharrat Jagdeo complained about last week during a panel sponsored by Avoided Deforestation Partners in Cancun?

 

Can I buy a Christmas tree and be green?

Christmas trees come at a high human price, so branch out into the fairtrade option and have yourself a guilt-free Christmas.

 

Can I keep warm and be green?

Wood-burning stoves may not be as eco-friendly as they appear.

 

Can rainforests be saved with cash injections?

Protecting the world's rainforests is a central issue at this month's Climate Change Conference in Cancun. Huge sums are to be offered to countries that protect their forests. However, experts fear that these rewards could be misused, and that they could actually promote deforestation.

 

Cancún analysis: Dawn breaks on low-carbon world

Cancún's climate conference was largely a diplomatic triumph. No nations promised to up their emissions reduction targets from those pledged in Copenhagen.

 

Cancún climate change summit: Protect our forests to protect people too

We must consider setting an explicit time frame for protecting forests and halting their rapid degradation.

 

Cancún deal leaves hard climate tasks to Durban summit in 2011

After the catastrophe in Copenhagen came the compromise in Cancún, but one that left the most difficult decisions for Durban next year.

 

Cancún forests deal is 'wrapped up and ready to move' – or is it?

Measures to preserve forests were supposed to be a done deal at the Cancún climate summit, but try telling that to Guyana.

 

(Source dans la presse - INFOSYLVA – No. 23/2010)