Faith

UN Climate Change Conference in Cancún delivers balanced package of decisions, restores faith in multilateral process is the official word.  The UNFCCC delegates, without all the hoopla of Copenhagen, appear to have materially advanced the cause of saving the planet – and all its people, now and for the future – from the depredations of its people, now and from the past.

There is, as always, a lot of work to do, but the “Cancún Agreements” have shown, according to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christina Figueres, that nations “…can work together under a common roof, to reach consensus on a common cause. They have shown that consensus in a transparent and inclusive process can create opportunity for all.”

Echoing this, the NY Times here quotes Jennifer Morgan, head of climate and energy programs at the World Resources Institute:  “This agreement was a remarkable turnaround for a multilateral approach to address climate change, including commitments on emissions from all the world’s major economies.”

Reuters reports here that the conference finalized the creation of “…a Green Climate Fund to give $100 billion a year in aid for poor nations by 2020, measures to protect tropical forests and ways to share clean energy technologies.”  These are all critically important steps.  Various key ministers are quoted here:

• Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa, President of the Conference: “This is a new era of international cooperation on climate change.”
• Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh: “India is very happy with this package.”
• Jake Schmidt, Natural Resources Defense Council: “There’s still a lot of work to do next year. But the hard work is done and the key pieces are done and now the world can begin to implement them.”

Not incidentally, there was near-universal acclaim for the job that Espinosa did as President.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement:   “This outcome advances each of the core elements of the Copenhagen Accord: They anchor the Accord’s mitigation pledges; build on a system of transparency, with substantial detail and content of International Consultations and Analysis which will provide confidence that a country’s pledges are being carried out; launch a new Green Climate Fund; create a framework to reduce deforestation in developing countries; establish a technology mechanism; and setup a framework and committee to promote international cooperation and action on adaptation.”

Further, US Climate Envoy Todd Stern says here that “I think that it’s a positive thing to see a worldwide agreement, one that includes all of the major economies.”  Generally, he feels that the agreements in Mexico will help advance what the US may do, both in the legislative and the executive branches.

I’ll have some more analyses in the days to come, but for now, enjoy this slideshow.  (Don’t wait for me, though.  Dig in here to all the agreements that were made.)