COP17—Durban Climate Conference — Global Issues

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September 22, 2025

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by Anup Shah
This web page Created Wednesday, January 04, 2012

This web page: https://www.globalissues.org/article/797/cop17-durban-climate-conference.
To print all data (e.g. expanded aspect notes, reveals different hyperlinks), use the print model:

On this web page:

Introduction
Media protection
Despite media’s lack of curiosity, emissions proceed to rise
Common however Differentiated Responsibility Principle Sidelined Again
Durban assembly end result
More data
1. News tales from IPS

Introduction

November 28 – December 9, 2011, Durban, South Africa was the venue for the seventeenth annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, often known as the seventeenth Conference of the Parties — or COP 17.

Predictably and sadly, the identical points complained about at earlier annual conferences for the previous decade proceed to recycle themselves:

Lack of high quality (if any) media protection
West stalling on doing something making an attempt in charge India and China as an alternative
Lack of funding
Disagreement on learn how to handle it
and many others.

As the previous 20 years have proven making an attempt to get international settlement on tackling local weather change appears to be futile. By comparability, extra targeted and restricted curiosity of elites, nevertheless, are simpler to push via, akin to wars based mostly on geopolitical threats (actual and imaginary), or financial crises (the place banks and different elites most answerable for the crises are bailed out by bizarre residents).

Furthermore, because the West has usually proven up to now decade or extra (even when their economies have been doing good) paying now for one thing that appears to be an issue sooner or later is tough to just accept. It is less complicated, due to this fact, to stall and preserve blaming China, India and different rising nations regardless of the historic inequality of these emissions. But ignoring that makes it simpler to hope these rising nations will decide up the burden of addressing emissions rises.

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Generally talking, media protection of local weather change points and these conferences has been a combined bag over the previous decade. More latest years has seen elevated curiosity and protection (although many necessary points are glossed over in mainstream media sound-byte fashion reporting).

However, by comparability, this 12 months’s mainstream media protection of this significant convention was near pathetic, to place it politely. In actuality cash speaks and so quick time period and elite/institution views are likely to prevail, which is why governments can so rapidly get the 99% to bail out the banks and the highest 1% with many trillions of {dollars}, whereas discovering billions for preventing much more devastating local weather change has taken virtually 2 a long time thus far with none convincing outcomes.

Personally observing mainstream TV information in UK throughout the week of the Durban talks revealed virtually no main headlines till the final day and even then just some moments of summarizing a whole two weeks, which in fact isn’t sufficient. But my very own observations weren’t systemmatic. However, media watchdog Media Lens confirmed my fears of poor protection, not simply within the UK however elsewhere such because the US:

Media curiosity within the topic has crashed. Dr. Robert J. Brulle of Drexel University describes a collapse of any vital protection of local weather change within the [US] media. We know that 2010 was a report low 12 months, and 2011 will most likely look a lot the identical. If the media does not draw consideration to the difficulty, public opinion will decline.

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Equally disturbing is the variation in media efficiency throughout the globe. A large-ranging Reuters examine on the prevalence of local weather skepticism on this planet’s media — Poles Apart — The worldwide reporting of local weather skepticism – targeted on newspapers in Brazil, China, France, India, the UK and the USA. The durations studied have been February to April 2007 and mid-November 2009 to mid-February 2010 (a interval that included the UN local weather change summit in Copenhagen and Climategate). Remarkably, the examine concluded that local weather skepticism is predominantly an Anglo-Saxon phenomenon, discovered most steadily in US and British newspapers.

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And so we discover that Britain and the US — the 2 international locations responding most aggressively to alleged threats to human safety in international locations like Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya — are additionally the 2 international locations least focused on responding to the very actual risk of local weather change.

Climate Crisis – The Collapse In Corporate Media Coverage
, Media Lens, December 1, 2011

An extra concern that Media Lens additionally raises is what they described as capitalism trampling on journalism:

A primary instance of this trampling was equipped by the high-profile BBC sequence Frozen Planet, narrated by David Attenborough, specializing in life and the surroundings within the Arctic and Antarctic. British viewers will see a complete of seven episodes, the final of which, On skinny ice, offers with the specter of local weather change.

However, viewers in another international locations will solely watch six episodes. This is as a result of the BBC packaged the sequence in such a manner that the local weather change episode was an elective further that overseas networks may select to reject. And reject it they did — of 30 networks internationally which have purchased the sequence, 10 have opted to not purchase the episode on local weather change. Most notable amongst them is the United States, the world’s main contributor each to local weather disaster and disinformation about the issue.

Climate Crisis – The Collapse In Corporate Media Coverage
, Media Lens, December 1, 2011

In the United States, the annual Tyndall Report, which displays the each day nightly newscasts of the three essential TV shops (ABC, CBS, and NBC) discovered simply 4 tales on local weather change for your complete 2011 on the three prime time information reveals, two of them being simply over 2 minutes every (the opposite two I can not entry from overseas).

The particular reveals monitored are in fact not the one information proven within the evenings, and different shops like CNN should not included, and neither is the Internet, however 2/3rds of individuals get their information from TV within the US, as Jim Lobe famous in a information story overlaying this 12 months’s Tyndall report. In that story, Andrew Tyndall, was interviewed by Jim Lobe who additionally added:

It is secure to say that the community information is complicit on this nation’s [the USA] international warming denialism, reinforcing the issue, versus reporting on it.

Andrew Tyndall interviewed by Jim Lobe, Arab Spring Dominated TV Foreign News in 2011, Inter Press Service, January 2, 2012

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And whereas it appears unimportant to the mainstream media, nature continues its course:

While public concern grows and media protection collapses, the local weather change downside goes via the roof. According to a latest examine by the US Department of Energy, the worldwide output of heat-trapping carbon dioxide jumped by the largest quantity on report in 2010. The world pumped about 564 million extra tons of carbon into the air in 2010 than it did in 2009, a rise of 6 per cent. The newest figures imply that ranges of greenhouse gases are increased than the worst case situation outlined by local weather specialists simply 4 years in the past, USA Today studies.

…

In the US alone, roughly $3.5 bn is invested yearly in lobbying actions on the federal degree. In latest years, Royal Dutch Shell, the US Chamber of Commerce, Edison Electric Institute, PG&E, Southern Company, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and ConocoPhillips all made the highest 20 checklist of lobbyists. The local weather marketing campaign organisation 350.org estimates that 94 per cent of US Chamber of Commerce contributions went to local weather denier candidates.

Climate Crisis – The Collapse In Corporate Media Coverage
, Media Lens, December 1, 2011

And these are rises of carbon emissions even throughout the powerful financial situations.

Media Lens and USA Today are referring to the international carbon undertaking report.

That report provides that though China, USA, India, and Russia accounted for the most important emissions progress in 2010, Per capita emissions of developed international locations stay a number of occasions bigger than these of creating international locations.

In different phrases, vital — and fairer — positive factors could be obtained if wealthy nations would deal with their emissions (as has repeatedly been identified for some 2 a long time).

Reuters summarized the above report and in addition added {that a} separate examine printed lately concluded there was virtually no probability of limiting warming to 2 levels Celsius based mostly on enormous investments in polluting energy stations.

The abstract of that report from the journal, Nature Climate Change, worries: How nations intend to maintain inside a 2 °C threshold, not to mention take into account at [sic] 1.5 °C threshold, is unclear in mild of present progress (or lack of).

Despite Europe being on course to satisfy its Kyoto commitments, international carbon dioxide emissions are nonetheless on the rise having spiked by 45% since 1990 to achieve a report degree of 33 billion tonnes final 12 months.

… to remain beneath 2 °C all through this century, annual emissions should come down by about 4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equal from the current day degree to about 44 Gt of carbon dioxide equal in 2020. Even then, there’s only a 66% chance of staying inside the 2 °C threshold by 2100. Out of the almost 200 situations studied, solely three give a 90% chance of staying beneath 2 °C this century, and all of these depend on commercially unproven applied sciences to seize and retailer carbon-based greenhouse gases. Even with using these applied sciences, there’s at greatest a 50% chance of staying beneath 1.5 °C this century. Worryingly, if we wait till 2030 for emissions to peak, we’re extra prone to be seeking to keep away from 3 °C this century than 2 °C. In quick, the two °C threshold is steadily slipping of attain, and 1.5 °C already appears unachievable.

Crossing the edge, Nature Climate Change, October 27, 2011, doi:10.1038/nclimate1288

Keeping the typical temperature improve inside 2 °C of pre-industrial ranges implies a goal of 450 components per million (ppm) C0₂ within the environment. But 450ppm is already feared as not a secure goal, however the one sensible one to purpose for now due to lack of progress amongst industrialized nations up to now 2 a long time. And what if we get to 451 ppm?

How a lot will the world change if we improve CO₂ ranges to 451 ppm? Time will inform, however by some means we could also be duplicating in power in simply 200 years what nature itself requires 10,000 years to do. We are making use of that forcing past the purpose at which nature has all the time stopped.

We are duplicating inside that quick time interval the best single power on this planet that nature alone has wielded for the previous 2.5 million years. But nature does so slowly, rigorously and predictably.

We are doing so quickly, erratically, and with out consciousness or understanding of the implications, and even taking lengthy sufficient to acknowledge that what we’re doing does certainly have an irreversible impact.

Sphaerica, (Fahrenheit) 451 ppm, Skeptical Science, December 11, 2011

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Common however Differentiated Responsibility Principle Sidelined Again

As Inter Press Service (IPS) summarized:

What is abundantly clear is the big divide between the wealthy and poor international locations. Poor international locations need deep cuts in emissions by the industrialized world, and the latter proceed to withstand vital cuts and legally binding targets.

Stephen Leahy, Climate Change: History Was Not Made, Inter Press Service, December 19, 2009

This web site’s part on local weather justice has lengthy gone into some element about

How the Common however Differentiated Responsibility acknowledges that wealthy nations have emitted many of the greenhouse gases which are inflicting local weather change, that creating international locations’ emissions are prone to rise on their path to industrialization and making an attempt to satisfy primary social and improvement wants; and that due to this fact whereas the objectives are the identical, the means to deal with local weather change can be totally different.
Year after 12 months at local weather summits, it appears this precept is commonly ignored by some wealthy nations and their media.
It has due to this fact been simpler in public in charge nations like China and India for reacting negatively and being uncooperative when confronted with stress to undergo emission discount targets (earlier than many wealthy nations reveal they will do the identical).

Greenhouse gases have a tendency to stay within the environment for a lot of a long time so historic emissions are an necessary consideration.

The following reveals that the wealthy nations (referred to as Annex I international locations in UN local weather change converse) have traditionally emitted greater than the remainder of the world mixed, although China, India and others have been rising lately. This is why the frequent however differentiated obligations precept was acknowledged.

(Chart up to date in January 2012 so as to add knowledge as much as 2008 and preliminary estimates for 2009 and 2010)

Source: Boden, T.A., G. Marland, and R.J. Andres, Global, Regional, and National Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2011, DOI: 10.3334/CDIAC/00001_V2011. 2009 and 2010 estimates additionally from CDIAC, by Tom Boden and T.J. Blasing

No doubt, creating nations ought to concentrate on their latest rise and in addition do extra to curb their emissions. But given their later entry to industrialization and that their per capita emissions are even lower than wealthy nations, extra emission discount may be achieved per particular person in wealthy nations.

The US and others have characterised the marketing campaign for local weather justice and equality to the environment as a approach to declare local weather reparations; that it’s unfair to make the industrialized nations pay for local weather emissions into the previous century or extra at a time once they didn’t know it might trigger extra hurt.

That appears affordable. However, one of many implications is that any settlement that’s subsequently drawn up will, in impact, put disproportionately extra burden on the poorer international locations to deal with an issue they didn’t largely trigger. The poor are much less prone to have the assets to take action, which additionally signifies that tackling local weather change is much less doubtless to achieve success.

This is why wealthy nations are being requested to significantly take into consideration the kind and manner they use vitality along with serving to the poorer nations (not essentially reparations however via significant know-how and adaptation help — which might be far more cost effective than the bailouts readily handed to those who did trigger a significant downside).

In addition, there’s little equity in asking China, India and others to be topic to emission targets when many wealthy international locations didn’t obtain the watered down Kyoto targets themselves.

Some rising nations are in a gray space — India, China, Brazil, and many others are quickly creating and though they’ve monumental social and improvement issues excellent, a few of their rich are as rich (some extra so) as these in industrialized nations. As such, wealthier creating nations aren’t essentially the goal (nor asking) for such adaptation funds.

It is definitely extra complicated than just a few sentences on this web page can present, however the simplification supplied by wealthy nation leaders and their media hides this complexity 12 months after 12 months. (See local weather justice from this web page for extra particulars on this.)

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Durban assembly end result

The assembly in Durban appeared fairly intense; some such because the US and EU have been eager on getting China, India and different massive rising nations to signal on to binding emission discount agreements. These international locations have been understandably reluctant and even when they might be gaining a stronger voice within the wake of the worldwide/Western monetary disaster, this assembly additionally confirmed that they haven’t eclipsed the West (no less than not but) on the diplomatic entrance.

Stephen Leahy, writing for IPS, gives a helpful abstract of the Durban assembly:

The world is more and more dedicated to harmful ranges of worldwide warming with one more failure by nations of the world to conform to wanted reductions in carbon emissions right here in Durban.

…

After two weeks and an extra 29 hours of intense and even bitter negotiations, the 193 nations collaborating within the United Nations local weather talks agreed to a posh and technical set of paperwork referred to as the Durban Platform. These embody the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol, a proper construction for a Green Climate Fund, new market mechanisms, and extra.

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Currently the promised emission reductions by industrialised international locations and people of China, Brazil, South Africa, India and others beneath the 2009 Copenhagen Accord assure a world that’s no less than 3.5 levels Celsius hotter on common based on local weather science. It can be double that over massive components of the world. Some evaluation says this international common might be even increased rising to 4 or 5 levels Celsius threatening our species with annihilation.

Stephen Leahy, Agreement for New Global Treaty To Reduce Emissions, Inter Press Service, December 12, 2011

Interestingly, the extent of discount promised by the industrialized world is small in comparison with its portion of emissions. And it appears to be like as if creating international locations have misplaced out in some ways:

Despite the political posturing by the United States, Canada and even the European Union, the very fact is that creating international locations’ promised reductions are higher than the industrialised world which are answerable for 75 p.c of the overall human emissions within the environment.

…

Waiting till 2020 to make main cuts means these cuts should be far deeper and much more expensive to have any hope of holding temperatures beneath two levels Celsius,

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The Durban Platform features a second dedication interval of the Kyoto Protocol that may start January 2013, avoiding a niche on the finish of the primary dedication interval ending subsequent 12 months. The size of the second dedication interval is to be determined at COP 18 in Qatar.

Developing international locations insisted on this situation as a result of Kyoto is the one legally binding emissions discount settlement. However, it solely requested for small reductions from industrialised international locations like these in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and some others. The U.S. opted out and Canada ignored its obligations and elevated emissions 24 p.c. And now Canada, Japan and Russia have stated they’ll take not participate within the second dedication interval.

Stephen Leahy, Agreement for New Global Treaty To Reduce Emissions, Inter Press Service, December 12, 2011

But it’s not simply creating international locations which have misplaced out; the vast majority of the primary world may have misplaced out too. Because, as Stephen Leahy rightly notes, trillions are simply and rapidly made accessible to bail out the elite in a monetary crises. But in the case of a good larger disaster that’s additional away (and admittedly tougher, maybe, to internalize), funds all of the sudden appear arduous to seek out; governments are all of the sudden cash-strapped.

Private sources explicitly embody carbon markets as governments from the wealthy international locations steadily cited the monetary disaster has tied their purse strings. Civil society and a few creating nations famous that governments have made trillions of {dollars} accessible for the financial institution and monetary sector and that world’s navy finances is greater than 10 occasions what is required for the GFC [Green Climate Fund].

Stephen Leahy, Agreement for New Global Treaty To Reduce Emissions, Inter Press Service, December 12, 2011

See additionally George Monbiot’s observe on this, evaluating the $7 trillion in US bailout for their very own banks, whereas an estimate for capping local weather change globally would require lower than a tenth of that: $650 billion. And distinction how rapidly the trillions have been made accessible versus how difficult it’s for a local weather fund to come back about.

The different necessary difficulty for creating international locations is that any local weather fund be unbiased of Western management, someway, due to the unhealthy expertise most poor international locations have had up to now.

There was numerous outcry on the stance of the US. Democracy Now! for instance reported on the Startling Level of Obstructionism and Defeatism by the Obama Administration on a U.N. Climate Deal, choosing non-legally binding agreements.

Others, such because the EU, wished a brand new legally binding settlement, however because the Third World Network, based mostly in Malaysia, requested, What is the purpose of a brand new treaty? In Bali, 2007, the mechanisms have been already agreed:

The actuality is that the Climate Convention and the Kyoto Protocol that make up the prevailing legally binding local weather structure desperately want implementing, not changing. Developed international locations seem progressive by asking for a legally binding treaty or the mandate for one, when the true reality is that they’re violating the present legally binding regime, shifting he goalpost agreed within the Bali Roadmap, and reneging on agreements for a second dedication interval of the Kyoto Protocol.

Building on the Bali Mandate
, Third World Network, December 2011

This double-standard (in lots of areas, not simply surroundings) is a significant cause many protests have erupted all through the industrialized world. The elite appear thus far faraway from the results of local weather change that maybe there isn’t any incentive for them to do issues about it, successfully, not like throughout the latest monetary disaster. Instead, resigning to a excessive degree of warming is maybe acceptable to the elite as they are going to be higher geared up to cope with it.

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