International Climate Negotiations Nearing End in Poznan

The results of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) climate negotiations have begun to take form. This two-week round of talks in Poznan, Poland will conclude on December 12. "We are now at the point where a lot has been resolved but a limited number of issues remain outstanding," UN Climate Secretariat Yvo de Boer told reporters. Agreements have been made to set specific emissions commitments for industrial countries, to raise funds for developing countries to adapt to and mitigate climate change, and to develop a carbon credit system to pay countries to halt deforestation and to plant new forests on depleted lands. As written, however, the agreements on emissions targets leave open the possibility that not all developed countries would be bound to commitments. "The wording leaves open the possibility that not all countries will have targets," said de Boer.

The upcoming transition of US leadership was noted by many at the negotiations. The delegates representing the Bush administration at this year's talks include Harlan Watson, Special Envoy to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Paula Dobriansky, Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs. President-elect Barack Obama did not send a delegation to Poznan, leading some to speculate that negotiations are being delayed until Obama takes office. "Another climate treaty without the US doesn't make a lot of sense," said de Boer. Gus Silva-Chavez, a policy expert at the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, explained the effect of Obama's absence, "A lot of people think 'This is not the time to put our cards on the table. Let's wait for the new administration. Why agree to anything now?'" UNFCCC negotiations are scheduled to continue in December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the target venue for the creation of a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol which runs through 2012.

For more information on the UNFCCC, please click here .