Countries jostle for position before the start of climate talks

The differences between developed and poor countries has always been a major difficulty in reaching a climate agreement, but now it seems China is attempting to bridge the gap by taking on a leadership role. The government has stated that developing countries must have concrete plans to cut carbon emissions in order to resolve the stalemate in climate talks.

Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission in China also says that developed countries need to draw up a ‘Kyoto 2’. It is thought that China is trying to create a middle ground between the two groups and in so doing become a leader in the discussions. One of the key arguments in the discussions is one of responsibility.

Kyoto in 1997 agreed that it was up to developed countries to take the lead on emissions reductions, but since then the proportion of emissions from developing countries has increased and is playing a major role in ballooning worldwide emissions. Zhenhua has therefore called on developing nations to ‘play their part’ in the negotiations and offer concrete cuts in emissions.

The nature of these agreements however, is likely to be voluntary, and other developing nations believe this will lead to little change. Another question is what will happen if the developed nations do not agree on any concrete action. Will this lead to a fall off in interest from countries like China to do something about their growing emissions?

The coalition of Island States want to see a binding agreement before 2015, however countries like the UK see 2020 as a more realistic date for a final agreement. AOSIS have called this expected delay “reckless and irresponsible”. It is also feared countries like Russia and Japan may look to completely derail the talks, putting back any chance of a new Kyoto agreement further in the calendar.