The G8 leaders have been hiding from the people they claim to represent in ever more remote places in recent years. But the summit here at Toyako, Hokkaido, takes the idea of "hiding far, far away" to perfection. Even the media centre is kilometres away from where Bush, Fukuda, Merkel and Co. are meeting. Toyako - and the area around it - is said to be beautiful. It is difficult to judge right now, I have to say, as it is raining cats and dogs. The mountains, said to be magical, are hardly even visible. The mist is not romantic, but really just low-lying rain clouds. As this is a ski area, that has received less and less snow fall in recent years, I guess the weather is fitting. This is what it will be like in Toyako - and other ski areas - even in winter. Unless our leaders act. Will they? ]]> So far, it's looking like even more rain will be the future of Toyako. There is a lot of talk about whether or not the G8 will agree to cut emissions by 50% by 2050. But that would not be enough (which is why we at least need the word "at least" in there for this not to be a step backwards ...). And what's all this talk about 2050 anyway? We need action now. By these governments, not some future ones. Clear 2020 targets - of at least minus 30% by 2020 - would at least indicate, that governments understand the urgency. But we are very unlikely to see those. Instead, we will likely see lots of flowery words saying that it would be nice to have mid-term targets, and even lovelier if they were ambitious. Politican-talk, that in plain language means - more rain in ski resorts, a loss of the North Pole ice sheet and misery for many millions around the world ....

Sobering. But look on the bright side: This is George W. Bush's last G8. That is the one bit of certain good news to come out of Toyako this week. Bye bye, Bush! May he take one of these special G8 water bottles with him. They are plastic and non-returnable. But they claim to "Love the Planet". They truly are just right for Bush!

]]> tag:weblog.greenpeace.org,2007:/climate//193.7045 2007-12-19T17:40:07Z 2007-12-21T16:04:05Z

By Wendel, Bali project team leader, now in Brussels The Bali meeting was an extra-ordinary one with final decisions being made more than 24 hours after its scheduled ending. The last couple of hours of the meeting were a bit...

Andrew http://weblog.greenpeace.org/climate By Wendel, Bali project team leader, now in Brussels

The Bali meeting was an extra-ordinary one with final decisions being made more than 24 hours after its scheduled ending. The last couple of hours of the meeting were a bit of a drama with countries changing their positions at the very last moment, and the media thinking it was over while there were still some important discussions going on. There for the news that came out of Bali may have been a bit confusing. Allow me to clarify.

1. We have a Bali Mandate! Maybe not as clear and as coherent as we wanted it, but looking at where we were at the start of the COP/MOP, our team in Bali achieved a lot. The language could have been better, and it could all have been more coherent but if we look carefully at what has been decided, we got a lot out of Bali: we have a process and a deadline, we have recognition of ambitious targets (25 to 40 % by 2020), and we have all our major issues on the agenda (deforestation, adaptation, technology transfer and financing). So, in fact we can be proud of what we have achieved.

Thank you all for your support.

So we've put together a map showing some of the protests around the world leading up to and during Bali...

View Larger Map

It is now 5pm of Saturday 15th December. The UN Climate Change Conference was scheduled for 3-14 Dec. The conference is still in session! Why are we still sitting here in plenary hearing the debate on the text a full day after what was to be the official end date?

In the face of heartfelt plea from the voices of those at the forefront of the impacts of climate change- namely, Tuvalu; Grenada on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and a few others, this morning the US continued to hold to its stubborn, non-negotiable stance which threatened to bring the meeting to a horrible end - ie. no mandate and a total waste of money, time, effort and the poltical will of industralised nations like member states of the EU. South Africa and PNG then made really strong interventions calling on the US to be the leader its been in other arena; PNG told the US that if it could not be a leader, then to get out of the way and leave the space to others.

Sheepishly, the US fell into line. As the room applauded, I did not want to waste my energy applauding because for me as a Pacific Islander, I ask " what took it so long to get to this point and why did it have to be kicked in the rear end to get in line?" I will wait to see what the US gets up to in the coming 2 years. It is the hope of those of us who witness first hand the impacts of climate change that as the will of the people in Australia changed the arrogant government of Howard; that the same will happen in 2008 in the USA.

In the last few minutes - the text adopted under the Kyoto Protocol had the ranges Greenpeace has been fighting hard for (25-40% reductions by 2020 compared to 1990 levels). Australia's support was particularly welcomed with rounds of applause. As a Pacific Islander, this gesture on the part of Australia is much welcomed and we look forward to more positive relations.

This session just ended is the start of a 2 year process which will negotiate the work for the second round of commitment under the Kyoto Protocol. What the Pacific islands need is strengthened capacity to be like Tuvalu, in its tenacity, in continuing to raise its flag and voice in the face of bullying tactics by big industrialised nations like the USA. What the Pacific islands need is real action against climate change. Now!

It's been a tough two weeks pushing the new Australian government to finally accept some clear numbers for action on climate change. At the beggining of the week the Prime Minister said that there was no way that Australia would sign up to the negotiating "range" (of 25-40% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels), but here they are, agreeing to it! We have pushed and pushed, and called out for the government to take a principled position, and now it seems like we will get our wishes. We still have a long way to go to start reducing emissions in Australia, but now we have something to shoot for. We couldn't be more happy!

Well, this was fun. After emotional speeches on the need to act - and to act now - against climate change by the likes of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Paula Dobriansky for the Bush White House first objected to the "Bali roadmap", the start of comprehensive negotiations for the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol. She was boo-ed. And many delegations, in stark terms not usual in international diplomacy, objected. South Africa said very clearly, that developing countries, especially rapidly industrializing one, are willing to do more (unlike what the Bush administrations keeps telling the world). And Papua New Guinea put it best. They called on the United States to "get out of the way". Well - they did! A potential action plan, to be agreed in 2009, was adopted. This changes nothing about the fact that the Bush administration is to blame that not more was achieved in Bali. That this agreement is not what the science demands. This agreement does, for example, not commit governments to the vital peak in global emissions by 2015. Still: the minimum for what we came here for, we got. (And we still await further decisions later today, especially from all those countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol.)
Today we will sleep when this is finally over in another few hours. But tomorrow we start mobilizing for the fight over the next two years. We now CAN get a strengthened global climate treaty in Copenhagen in 2009. But this is by no means a given. It will take political pressure - like the pressure that made the United States cave here today. Thanks for your support! Keep it up!

So, we are still here. 9am and governments have just started to meet in plenary. There is a new text - and it is not what the science demands. It lacks clear targets, it lacks the urgency that is needed. The US (supported by Russia last night) seems to have succeeded in destroying a strong agreement, even though the rest if the world was willing to take a giant step forward in Bali. But whether even this deal (which does have some good elements, e.g. on bringing clean technologies to the developing world) will survive the next few hours, we will see. There are still several options on the table. It is unusual to discuss a non-agreed text in plenary. It's a gamble by the Indonesian organizers. Let's see whether it works ...

We are still here at the Convention Centre; and it looks like we will be here all night. The mood is charged. People are nervous, tired, cranky. At midnight, ministers will reconvene and hear back from some sub-groups of negotiators on whether any progress has been made. Then there is likely to be more negotiations. Possibly until 7am. - The main sticking points: - what the United States will commit to - what developing countries commit to - and how ministers will reflect the science of climate change that demands real and drastic cuts. The stakes are getting higher. But the convention centre is also emptying out. The ' carneval of ideas' character of the convention centre corridors is over. Some people are sleeping in chairs. The many booths where organizations from the World Bank to our Solar Generation youth delegation have been ' selling' their ideas to passer-bys over the last two weeks have been dismantled. Which gives the place a bit of a hospital feel now. But at least it also means that some obnoxious people are gone. Like all those fossil fuel and nuclear power lobbyists, that have been pretending to be part of the solution to climate change here for the last two weeks. Like the World Coal Institute.

An institute that loves oxymoron's - like clean coal. An institute that is using the worry of many nations, that they require long term, reliable fuels to sell the most climate-damaging energy-form on planet earth. And, yes, as you might have guessed from the name of the institute. That is coal. Every time I passed the institute's stand, I thought of doing small impromptu "activity". Holding a banner in front of them. Delivering pictures of communities devastated by coal. Covering the stand in coal dust. Ok, that would have been mean. But appropriate ...

Unfortunately, I didn’t get into see Gore but watched him on screen –it was perfect timing. Another reason to be positive about the backlash, and the fact that people are telling the Bush administration where to go.

And the EU was saying that: this is what we need and we’re not backing down. Dimas, hero of the Anti GMO movement also made some cracking comments to the new Australian government.

Here are some examples from my notes, they may well just sound like diplobabble, which they were, but in reality they were dynamite. One little disclaimer - this is no transcript, just my rough notes:

Q: What’s this we hear about the EU boycotting the Major Emitters Meeting?

A: The EU has no intention of a boycott, we cherish the MEM process and believe can be fed into UNFCCC. But if we have failure here, it would be pointless to attend the MEM.

Q. Did you tell the US that unless the 25-40% emissions reductions range was in the text you would not go to MEM?

A: We need substantial agreement here in Bali or MEM is pointless.

Q. (same speaker) – yes but unless did you say 25-40% range or no MEM?

A: We’re not blackmailing anyone. This is logic, not blackmail.

Q. What is the bottom line of breaking point?

A. Whatever comes out of Bali must rely on science, linking to IPCC findings is fundamental.

AUSTRALIA – get it together!

Q. Where does New Australian government stand on preamble [where the 25-40% ranges are] at the moment?

A. The New PM of Australia has lost an opportunity to commit to range but there is still time, because otherwise signing Kyoto Protocol will not have substance.

Q. Which advisor did you tell that Rudd had missed an opportunity by not supporting 25-40% target?

A. One who has less hair than myself. I have not heard that Australia doesn’t support the ranges, but we need to hear from them that they do.

Everyone is just as tired as yesterday, but the conference centre today is alive with activity and adrenalin. The end game has started. And the shape of the final deal is slowly but surely emerging .... The politics is also getting more interesting: German environment minister Gabriel gave the negotiations a boost by committing to a unilateral, domestic reduction of Germany's emissions by 40% by 2020. I have been working on Germany having such a progressive target for as long as I can remember. (Minus 40% by 2020 was in the position paper I wrote for the climate negotiations in 2000!) Now, finally, we have it! Of course, Germany can only deliver that target, if it stops supporting new coal-fired power plants in Germany ... That's the fight for 2008! - Ministers last night restarted the negotiations on bringing clean technologies to developing countries. (The collapse of which had rightly angered developing countries on Tuesday night. ) We will know soon whether bureaucrats do better this time than on Tuesday ... - Meanwhile, the US is still trying to block everything (and some ministers have been seen looking really depressed, after talking to the US ...). It is clear that they are trying to destroy the United Nations process, something which the rest of the world must simply not allow. Bush does not represent Americans. And whatever comes out of Bali, when government have to sign the dotted line on the future of the Kyoto Protocol in 2009, the President of the United States will NOT be Bush! - So, back to chasing the latest text and fighting like hell that Bali agrees a substantive, real action plan. Wish us luck!