2002-2014
I awoke the morning of December 15th thinking I would tune in to BBC World news over breakfast to see what happened in the final hours of climate negotiations.
To my surprise, the negotiations had continued through the night and they were still at it! The television announcer said that plenary was supposed to convene in an hour (10 am), so I decided to once again head back to Nusa Dua.
I arrived a little after the time that plenary was scheduled to begin, but nothing was happening yet. I settled in, plugging in and claiming a spot on the floor near the back of the plenary hall. People were milling about and some delegates were present, while other seats were clearly empty. About 11am, the Conference Chair banged his gavel and called plenary to order. He asked India to speak about its reservations regarding the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action Under the Convention. The representative from the Indian delegation said his Minister was outside the plenary hall and still in 'confabulations' with other parties and therefore he could not reiterate what his country's concerns were.
China took the floor and stated that Indonesia's Foreign Minister was still in talks with the G-77 countries. The Chinese delegate spoke bluntly; he asked that plenary be suspended until these talks had concluded; asked why plenary had been convened while other talks were still being held; suggested this was deliberate and asked for an apology from the Secretariat. Pakistan then joined China, requesting, on behalf of the G-77 countries, suspension of plenary. The Chair then formally suspended plenary, adding he would send an emissary to the Foreign Minister of Indonesia to ask that the meetings conclude as swiftly as possible.
So as of 11:20am Bali time on Saturday the 15th, consultations between Indonesia's Foreign Minister and G-77 Ministers were ongoing and there was no indication as to when plenary would resume.
After talking to a some NGO colleagues to get their opinion as to how things were going it seemed that no one had any real inkling of what kind of progress was being made behind the scenes.
In the final hours of these negotiations, plenaries are usually not that exciting; they are basically the forum to formalize consensus that has already been achieved in informal consultations and closed negotiations.
As it happened, in these negotiations the final plenary sessions were quite dramatic, as consensus clearly hadn't been achieved before they were convened and there were last minute proposals put forward to find consensus. According to media reports (NPR December 15, 2007, New York Times December 16, 2007, Globe and Mail December 15, 2007), things were so tense United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew in from East Timor to plea for agreement, and at one point co-organizer of the conference, Yvo de Boer, had to leave the podium as he held back tears.
"What we witnessed today was incredible drama," said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "I've been following the climate negotiations for 20 years and I've never seen anything like it. These talks came to the brink of collapse. Then there was a brilliant strategy to unite the world to call on the United States to rejoin the international community and take on this problem."
The US (or the Bush Administration) and sadly, Canada, were blocking consensus on key points until the very end.
The United States was booed in plenary and then chastised by many nations when it was the lone hold out for consensus after India proposed some new language that would ease the obligations of the developing world.
"We ask for your leadership," said Kevin Conrad representing Papua New Guinea (directed to the US). "We seek your leadership. But if for some reason you're not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us. Please get out of the way."
Similarly, in the final negotiating session for the 38 wealthy countries that have ratified the Kyoto accord, Canada's Environment Minister John Baird spoke against the ambitious target for developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 percent by 2020. With support only from Russia, he found himself virtually isolated, withdrew his objection, and agreed not to block the consensus position. This sparked a lengthy burst of applause from other countries. This significant step means the richest countries - all except the US - have now set ambitious new targets for emissions reductions.
Overall, there were some significant decisions made in Bali, but as the NGO community pointed out (Climate Action Network Canada December 15, 2007 press release), "The world moved forward in Bali today, but we had the opportunity to do much more," (Steven Guilbeault, Équiterre).
However, what we do have is a framework for negotiating the next phase of global action on climate change that:The outcomes from Bali will have to be considered by Canadians as we move forward with our own efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Canada's weak climate change steps are completely out of step with the commitment for developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 percent by 2020. Minister Baird bowed to consensus and accepted the global agreement. He has said in the media that Canada acknowledges the science of the IPCC and is committed to Kyoto and the Bali Road map. Now it is up to us as Canadians to make sure that we (and our government) live up to our international promises.