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de noviembre del 2000
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19
de noviembre del 2000
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By Diego Cevallos* More than 100 nations are meeting in The Hague this month to define the future of the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Latin America holds out hope that the accord will succeed in its goals of fomenting assistance for the developing South. MEXICO CITY - Mexico and Ecuador are the only Latin American countries that can proudly claim a gold medal for having ratified the Kyoto Protocol prior to the Sixth Conference of Parties (COP6) to the Convention on Climate Change. This is not impressive for a region that since 1997 has declared itself a strong proponent of the Protocol, an agreement to reduce emissions of gases known to cause the greenhouse effect. The treaty's future is at stake in the talks Nov 13 through 25 at The Hague. The Kyoto Protocol, which was negotiated by 160 countries, stipulates that industrialized nations must curb their greenhouse gas emissions to an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012. To take effect, the accord must be ratified by at least 55 countries, but most of the signatories have yet to do so. Scientists worldwide believe that time is running out for abating the potentially disastrous economic and social consequences of natural phenomena associated with climate change, including the greater frequency and intensity of floods, hurricanes and droughts, and rising sea levels. Most Latin American countries are pushing for the ratification of the Protocol in their legislatures, though parliamentarians are generally focusing on other priorities. And there is no consensus on the so-called ''flexible mechanisms'' outlined in the Protocol - emissions trading, joint implementation and the clean development mechanism (CDM) - which were included in order to create ways for the industrialized North and developing South to negotiate emissions reductions. In Chile, government sources told Tierramérica that lawmakers would ratify the Protocol during the first half of 2001. Authorities in Argentina affirmed that it would be approved there as well, although they added that ''there is no hurry.'' In Brazil, meanwhile, officials said they were awaiting the legislators' final assessment of the document. Costa Rica had pledged to finalize the ratification process prior to COP6, Peru indicated that it would reach a decision based on the results of the meeting at The Hague, while Venezuela said it would wait for the United States to approve the Protocol first. All Latin American nations agree it is essential that the United States, responsible for 25 percent of the world's climate-changing gas emissions, ratify the treaty. But no one expects the United States to make such an announcement at The Hague. The results of the controversial presidential elections could alter the country's political outlook as far as the Protocol is concerned. If the Kyoto Protocol does not take effect soon, the 2002 world conference to assess compliance with the commitments assumed at the 1992 Earth Summit will be fruitless, warned a forum of Latin American and Caribbean environment ministers in October. But is the region participating in talks at The Hague as a strong, united front? ''More or less,'' responded Raúl Estrada Oyuela, head of Environmental Affairs at Argentina's Foreign Ministry. Venezuela has its own circumstances as a petroleum exporter, and wants nothing to do with measures to reduce oil consumption. Brazil is not part of the consensus because it faces a unique set of problems, while Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are apparently ''content with what they have'', explained Estrada Oyuela. The Argentine official, who has been on the front lines of Kyoto Protocol negotiations, stressed that Mexico is part of the ''Environmental Integrity Club'' and seeks to curb climate change from the perspective of industrialized nations. Costa Rica, meanwhile, is negotiating resources on its own, ''offering its native forests'' as a carbon reduction mechanism. All Latin American countries are committed to the Protocol, but within a mosaic of different nuances and positions, Estrada Oyuela said. Franz Tattembach, Costa Rica's principal technical negotiator for the Protocol, is of a different opinion. Latin America arrives at COP6 ''more united than at any previous meeting,'' because it now has precedents of discussing the matter as a bloc in other forums. There is clear consensus on the need to seek funds for programs to reduce the effects of climate change and to allow the forestry sector to participate in the CDM efforts, said Tattembach. In this spirit, Costa Rica goes to The Hague to negotiate everything jointly with Latin America, he added. What does Latin America specifically hope to obtain at COP6? There is a wide range of positions. Maria Rita Fontes, adviser to the Environment Division at Brazil's Foreign Ministry, said her country wants regulation of the CDM included in the treaty, and the creation of an interim executive committee that would define the course of such instruments by 2001. José Luis Samaniego, spokesman for the International Affairs Coordination Unit at the Mexican Ministry of the Environment, indicated that his country hoped the parties at The Hague would agree on positions to eliminate the conceptual differences held by developing and industrialized nations regarding climate change. At The Hague it must also be clarified, especially for the United States, that Kyoto involves adopting commitments related to human activities, and not to natural processes, as some US negotiators seem to think, Samaniego emphasized. At COP6, Mexico wants to define timeframes for CDM negotiations between wealthy and developing countries, and would like to make it clear that the issue covers ''a debate that is not necessarily environmental, but has more to do with the global market and competition. '' Venezuela hopes COP6 will produce concrete decisions to minimize ''the adverse aspects implied by application of the protocol'' for petroleum producing countries, stated Evelyn Bravo, head of international relations and the environment at the Venezuelan Energy Ministry. Venezuela is also advocating at The Hague for enacting ''mechanisms for sustainable development projects in developing countries through technology transfer and support from industrialized nations. '' Peru is requesting the regulation of CDM operations and the creation of a special support fund for technological changes in developing countries, reported Patricia Iturregui, an expert at the Peruvian government's National Environmental Council participating in COP6. Chile also is focussing on the CDM, but with ''a special emphasis on the inclusion of 'carbon sinks' in the mechanism, as well as an agreement for its early implementation following COP6,'' said Adriana Hoffmann, director of the country's National Environmental Commission. In Colombia, Senator Rafael Orduz, who brought the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol before his nation's Congress, said his colleagues were living in ''prehistoric times'' when it came to the debate on climate change and the importance of the phenomenon. For Argentina, what should be hoped of The Hague convention is that, amid the din of negotiations, the parties do not lose sight of the fact that the essential issue is to protect the earth's climate. ''In this process there are groups that seek a certain material benefit, in other words, obtaining money to do things,'' said Estrada Oyuela. ''But that is a side issue. The important thing is that there must be a global movement to curtail climate change.'' Latin America is hoping that co-operative strategies like the CDM will arise from COP6, the Argentine diplomat added. ''But I fear that this will be proven wishful thinking once again, because conditions today are no different'' than in the past, he said. Estrada Oyuela pointed out that in the 1970s, developing countries believed industrialized nations would designate 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to international aid, but that did not happen. The same proposal was made in the 1980s, and did not bear fruit then either. In the 1990s, with the upsurge of global environmental issues, new pledges of support for the developing South were voiced, but proved to be just more empty promises. A sense of disappointment continued to reign after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, but ''now I am once again seeing great excitement, and I am doing everything possible so that my country and other developing nations have a chance,'' declared Estrada Oyuela. Despite the many obstacles, most of the region's officials expressed hope that their efforts would result in the full implementation of the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. But for that to happen, the key lies in the vote of the United States Congress, said the Latin American authorities, who added that the conditions in that country are not yet favorable for ratification of the Protocol. * The author is an IPS correspondent. Copyright © 2000 Tierramérica. Todos los Derechos Reservados |
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