COP19—Warsaw Climate Conference — Global Issues

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September 16, 2025

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by Anup Shah
This web page Created Monday, December 02, 2013

This web page: https://www.globalissues.org/article/803/cop19-warsaw-climate-conference.
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On this web page:

Introduction
Meeting end result
In context: widespread however differentiated duties
In context: Typhoon Haiyan
Lack of urgency
More data
News tales from IPS

Introduction

November 11 – 23, 2013, Warsaw, Poland was the venue for the nineteenth annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, often known as the nineteenth Conference of the Parties — or COP 19.

The goal of this convention was to create a loss and harm pillar of a brand new local weather treaty to be finalized in 2015. The different two pillars mentioned in earlier conferences are mitigation (emission reductions) and adaptation pillars.

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Meeting end result

The essential end result of the assembly was the institution of a global mechanism for a loss and harm related to local weather change impacts .

Predictably, the loss and harm side of local weather negotiations introduced out the worst in some nations. Some creating nations have been going to withstand the thought of financing adaptation to local weather change, whereas others appeared to hate the thought of local weather reparations for poor nations. A number of years earlier, industrialized nations had made a authorized dedication to a world local weather fund. Unsurprisingly, not a lot got here of it, as Inter Press Service summarized,

In 2009 on the semi-infamous Copenhagen talks, the wealthy nations made a take care of creating nations, saying in impact: We’ll offer you billions of {dollars} for adaptation, ramping as much as 100 billion {dollars} a 12 months by 2020, in trade for our mitigation amounting to small CO2 cuts as an alternative of constructing the large cuts that we must always do.

The cash to assist poor nations adapt flowed for the primary three years however has largely dried up. Warsaw was alleged to be the Finance COP to carry the promised cash. That did not occur.

Countries like Germany, Switzerland and others in Europe solely managed to scrape collectively guarantees of 110 million {dollars} into the Green Climate Fund. Developing nations needed a assure of 70 billion a 12 months by 2016 however have been blocked by the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan and others.

Stephen Lehey, South Scores Eleventh-Hour Win on Climate Loss and Damage, Inter Press Service, November 24, 2013

It received to the purpose that lots of of representatives from varied NGOs walked out of the negotiating rooms to protest towards developed nations’ reluctance to decide to a loss and harm mechanism. And this was a day after the G77+China group of 133 creating nations walked out of negotiations over the identical factor.

Looking by means of the briefing stories from the revered NGO, the Third World Network, It appears that on the floor, whereas an end result was ultimately thrashed out, there are a lot of areas of weak point of ample vagueness to fulfill everybody that contentious points which are seemingly resolved can nonetheless be challenged and altered sooner or later.

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In context: widespread however differentiated duties

Many years in the past all nations agreed that local weather change was largely the results of actions from immediately’s industrialized nations, as carbon dioxide — the primary greenhouse gasoline — stays within the environment for many years. Yet, the poorest would find yourself struggling probably the most for an issue they largely didn’t trigger. The approaches to mitigation (emissions discount) would subsequently be totally different for these teams of nations — the widespread however differentiated duties precept.

It is on this context that the dialogue for loss and harm has come about. And it’s one thing that wealthy nations are eager to do away with .

The years of resistance on this subject (and lots of others) means every time it’s mentioned once more the reactions appear to get much more hostile. Combined with the dearth of detailed context within the mainstream media protection of this side, it then turns into simpler every time to see culprits as China and India given their huge greenhouse emissions in recent times, in comparison with the far better quantity by the industrialized nations over the longer interval. See this web site’s part on local weather justice for extra detailed background.

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In context: Typhoon Haiyan

Typhoon Haiyan was the most important cyclone on file to hit land

The assembly got here on the time when the devastating Typhoon Haiyan had simply killed hundreds within the Philippines and affected hundreds of thousands extra. It was an ominous warning of what might be extra frequent as local weather change continues to take maintain.

It was additionally an instance of how poorer nations might be affected by an issue they’ve largely not been liable for and that whereas all of the worldwide outpouring of support and help was extremely welcome, that help for stopping and adapting to such occasions is paramount and efforts are urgently wanted to curb emission will increase.

In an emotional speech the Philippines lead negotiator for the convention, Naderev Saño, acquired a standing ovation for saying that he’ll go on a starvation strike till a significant end result is in sight.

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Lack of urgency

Inter Press Service (IPS) famous the seeming lack of urgency given the years and years of delay and watering down of significant motion:

To have likelihood at staying below two levels C, industrialised nations have to crash their CO2 emissions 10 p.c per 12 months beginning in 2014, stated Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research on the University of Manchester.

We can nonetheless do two C however not the way in which we’re going, Anderson stated on the sidelines of COP 19 in Warsaw. He puzzled why negotiators on the within usually are not reacting to the fact that it’s too late for incremental modifications.

I’m actually surprised there isn’t a sense of urgency right here, he informed IPS.

Stephen Lehey, South Scores Eleventh-Hour Win on Climate Loss and Damage, Inter Press Service, November 24, 2013

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