IUCN’s Views on UNFCCC- COP16,

Cancún Mexico (2010)

Saadullah Ayaz
IUCN Pakistan
IUCN, INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
 INTRODUCTION

COP15 (Copenhagen, 2009) produced un-expected results, resulting in a deadlock

among negotiating partners

Outcome of COP15 was ‘Copenhagen Accord’. Majority of Parties believe that;

- Copenhagen Accord is not an ideal deal (neither ‘Fair’ nor ‘Ambitious’ or ‘Binding’);
- Was decided outside the negotiating panel;
- Many pertinent issues have been left out;
- There is no clarity on how the various ‘decisions’ in the Accord are to be taken
forward;
- The Accord is considered ‘homeless’ and is not part of the UNFCCC’s acquis.

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 COPENHAGEN ACCORD- IUCN VIEWS

IUCN believes that the following have been left out in Copenhagen Accord must be
stressed upon by Pakistan during COP16 negotiations:

• The Copenhagen Accord does not apparently strengthens the Kyoto Protocol and
is neither regarded to be a fair, nor an ambitions or binding deal;

• Copenhagen Accord does not set out any ‘medium term emission goals’ and does
not describe the practical pathway to achieve the 2 °C target;

• No particular commitment s have been made to halving global emissions by 2050,

which are necessary for achieving 2 °C target;

• The Accord does not agree on any specific emission reduction commitments by
Annex-I countries;

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• No specific deadline has been agreed to complete a legally binding instrument
under the Kyoto Protocol;

• It is believed that the Accord does not provide any basis to review the agreement in
the light of the latest science and in particular, the scientifically described impacts
for developing countries;

• The Accord does not provide commitments for ‘a compliance mechanism’;

• No financial commitment have been made for Post-Kyoto Period (particularly

between 2015-2020);

• It does not commit on long-term (post-2020) public finance for developing countries,
that will be additional to existing development assistance;

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 ISSUES ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THIS SITUATION

• The continuing absence of national legislation in Annex-I countries and the US (in
particular) are not sufficiently committed t o reducing their emissions;

• Annex-I countries (with the exception of the EU and Norway) had not expressed
clear openness to a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol;

• The developing countries (nearly as a whole) seem un-willing to firm up on the

Copenhagen Accord by translating their pledges into legally binding commitments
for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMAs) and to accept that the
measuring, reporting and verification provisions in the Accord be enshrined in a
legally binding post 2012 agreement;

• Fast track finance (for 2010-2012) has been slow to be materialised. Long-term
(post-2020) finance has not been secured either;

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 CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES
URGENTLY NEEDED IN CANCÚN
Hopes are high- COP16 expected to be a milestone for strengthened international
action;

Progress towards establishing a global post-2012 climate change regime has proven
painfully slow. There appears to be broad expectation that the adoption of a legally
binding agreement may be postponed beyond December 2010;

Challenge posed to humanity by climate change is greater and more urgent than it has
as it ever been; Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the only, long-term answer to
restoring the global climate to stability;

Parties seem to have come closer to agreement on a number of crucial issues

including: adaptation; reducing emissions form deforestation and forest degradation in
developing countries (the REDD+ mechanism); technology transfer and capacity
building.

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It is important that the Decisions taken by the COP16 at Cancun restore and boost
confidence in the UNFCC process and the eventual outcome of the negotiations. The
COP16 should therefore finalise the issues on which progress has been made and
adopt a balanced package of Decisions. Action on each of them should follow
immediately.

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 IUCN’S CALL FOR ACTION AT COP16

IUCN calls for rapid and robust action by States, communities and individuals to
take all possible steps to cut their emissions of all greenhouse gases immediately
to ensure that the target agreed at Copenhagen, i. e., to limit the rise in global
average temperature to 2 ºC above pre-industrial levels can be achieved;

COP16 takes ‘confidence building measures’ in the form of a balanced package of

Decisions on REDD-plus, adaptation, technology transfer and capacity building;

IUCN also calls for a rapid advance in the development, testing and application of
ecosystem-based approaches for mitigation in forests and for adaptation in
vulnerable ecosystems and dependent communities;

New and additional fast-track funding needs to be made available immediately, for
both adaptation and mitigation;

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IUCN calls for the establishment of a strong and implementation oriented Adaptation
Framework as part of a post-2012 regime;

IUCN calls for the recognition of sustainable management of natural resources in

building resilience of socio-economic and ecological systems;

IUCN also calls for the immediate disbursement of new and additional financial
means to enable adaptation actions to be implemented on the ground;

IUCN also calls for all people, communities and Parties to take such adaptation
actions as they can towards the goals of the envisioned Framework, and towards
reducing the vulnerability and increasing the resilience of developing countries in
particular;

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IUCN calls on the Parties to ensure that national REDD-plus frameworks reflect the
progress at Copenhagen;

IUCN calls for gender considerations to be taken into account in the negotiation
process and in the future climate regime wherever appropriate;

IUCN emphasises the importance of building capacity for action at national and local
level, both on adaptation and mitigation.

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 Thanks

For more information, please contact:

Saadullah Ayaz
Climate Change/ Air Quality Coordinator
IUCN Pakistan

Tel: +92 (51) 2271028- 30

Email: saad.ayaz@iucn.org
Web: http://iucn.org/unfccc/resources/documents/

IUCN, INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE