Yvo de Boer Is Positive About Mexico
By Marianne de Nazareth
28 February, 2010
Countercurrents.org
Nusa Dua Bali, Indonesia Feb 26, 2010: At a specially convened press conference held during the 11th Special session of the governing council/ global ministerial environment forum Bali, Indonesia, Yvo de Boer the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, spoke on a positive note with reference to Mexico where the next COP16 is scheduled to be held from 29 November - 10 December.
He said, “ the Copenhagen Accord is an important tool to invigorate the negotiations ahead. We need to move forward from here and spend 2010 implementing the architecture for Cancun, Mexico. In the Copenhagen Accord, foundations for a new architecture was laid, with arrangements for 30 billion $ short-term funding, for sustainable forest management till 2012. Many smaller island countries face the impacts of Climate Change and so a review will be taken in 2015 as to whether the goal of 2 degree Celsius is realistic. Infact a lot had happened in Copenhagen but there was insufficient time for countries to move forward on decisions in the end.”
De Boer in reply to a western nation journalist’s question, was emphatic when he said, “ India and China have clearly indicated that they support the Accord and have also revealed the targets that they will implement in their respective countries. In fact China is not waiting for funding but going ahead setting its own targets and supporting itself on its national mitigation goals. India too has voluntarily announced its own country targets.
In reply to questions on the financial institutions that will handle the proposed financing from the funds committed at Copenhagen, de Boer said the finance would be worked through existing financial institutions.
De Boer voiced the fact that the outcome of Copenhagen should be used to build a way forward. There should be a better understanding developed between countries before Mexico. “You will not buy a house before you see its plans and check it out,” he said, “ similarly the architecture for Mexico has to be worked out so Mexico just means implementation. Mexico now needs to do what Copenhagen failed to do. A large number of decisions were almost ready in Copenhagen which included technical co-operation, dealing with deforestation, the long term goals of CO2 emissions, finance etc. However I emphasize, unless the architecture is ready, Mexico too will not work. “
On the issue of trust between developing and developed countries raised by a developing country journalist he said trust was an issue which tripped up the Copenhagen proceedings as countries were called to agree on issues without proper initiatives taken. “ We need to build on Copenhagen and move forward,” he said. The Kyoto Protocol too was crucial for success and “ if we fail to see progress on the Kyoto protocol then we wont see progress on the Copenhagen Accord. There needs to be continuity under the Kyoto Protocol for anything to work.”
He closed the press conference again referring to a question on whether India supported the Accord which was raised by a Filipino journalist. He stated that not only did the Prime Minister of India support the Accord, he had also come out with 8 national goals which have been formulated for India to take the countries initiatives to a higher level.
Marianne de Nazareth
Media Fellow with UNEP reporting from Bali
