Bali roadmap and energy bill make small steps

December 24, 2007

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Bali
"We are all part of the problem of global warming. Let us all be part of the solution that begins in Bali. Let us turn the climate crisis into a climate compact."

Photo: UN Photo

On Saturday, December 15th, an agreement was signed during an extra day of negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Bali, Indonesia (http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/items/2627.php). This agreement, informally called the “Bali Roadmap,” was deemed a small success to many observers from civil society, including Church World Service. Disappointingly, it lacks enumerated targets for greenhouse gas cuts that are essential to mitigate global warming and ultimately prevent future disaster for the world’s impoverished people.

The final agreement came at the end of a two week process of negotiations in which eleven thousand participants, representing more than 180 countries, convened to raise awareness on Climate Change and shape a framework to be implemented when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

In the final negotiations, the lack of specific reduction targets in greenhouse gas emissions was likely the cost paid to keep the United States as part of the process. The U.S. demanded that all targets remain non-binding or flexible. Other countries, including other developed nations and the EU, were in favor of specified targets of between 25-40% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. Including this type of commitment in the outcome would have been the kind of bold step many were hoping would come out of Bali- though many experts contend that even this level of agreed-upon reduction does not go far enough.

Just before the Bali meeting began, the United States Senate passed the Lieberman-Warner Act, which sets aside 5 percent of the revenue generated when the government auctions off some of the greenhouse gas emissions permits distributed under a cap-and-trade climate system. The revenue represents approximately $1 billion annually at the program’s outset in 2012 and at least $2 billion a year by 2031 as the emissions auctions expand over time.

There are several ways that this small step forward could be improved to ensure that critical needs are met and that assistance is delivered in an effective and fair way. For example, the funding proposed is inadequate - the UN Human Development Report recently assessed that developing countries will require more than $80 billion a year in new funding for coping with the impact of climate change (referred to as “adaptation”). And, given the realities of many of the impacted countries, the legislation should place a greater emphasis on providing support for capacity building for local community adaptation, including for improved resilience and diversification of livelihoods.

This legislation set the tone for the United States’ participation in the Bali negotiations sending a signal to the world that the US is not yet willing to make a serious commitment to provide adaptation funding in a post-2012 international climate agreement.

Unfortunately, the outcome of Bali remained minimal compared to the international attention and pressure put onto this gathering. Strong engagement from civil society and NGO’s like Church World Service is needed to ensure that the U.S. does not go back on the small steps forward it is taking, and to end its pattern of obstructionist tactics, lowering the global bar on climate change action. Despite the weakened outcome, Bali was an important step forward toward ensuring a future agreement as well as uniting many nations and civil society toward climate change and justice.

The Bali Action Plan and other agreements made during the conference can be viewed at http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_13/items/4049.php.

Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director and CEO of Church World Service, released a reflection on climate change prior to Bali that can be read here: “Climate change calls us to make all things new”