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DURBAN STANDS STILL
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December 23, 2011
One can easily understand what it means and how to move the still life to its worth moving ability, but nobody is ready to do it. This attitude has ruined the recently held climate change conference in Durban, South Africa.

Climate talks got stranded somewhere in bureaucratic and diplomatic framework, rather driven by scientific analysis and findings on climatic changes as big-guns are trying to save interests not precious lives on earth.

A many as 190 nations gathered in the great African country South Africa to attend the crucial climate change conference, explained in jargon like phrase UNFCCC, COP17 called United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 17th conference of parties.

According to South African Home Affair department, there were 11,810 delegates approved to come to South Africa for the conference, including several heads of state and government, ministers, UN officials, members of civil society and journalists.

During inaugural ceremony, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa said the negotiations were complex, but millions of poor and vulnerable people depended on decisions to be made at the conference.

The leaders were stressing at the opening ceremony of a two-week long climate conference about the secure fate of Kyoto Protocol, the only global pact that sets targets for reducing green house-gas emissions, but expected to expire at the end of 2012.

Zuma called upon rich countries to provide funding needed to address impacts of climate change through the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which is supposed to channel $ 100bn a year by 2020 to help developing countries fight climate change.


Executive Secretary of UNFCCC Christiana Figueres said time and again during the talks that "the process needs to take two decisive steps in Durban, finishing the tasks from COP16 (held in Cancun, Mexico in 2010) and answering the key political questions that remained unanswered in Cancun”.

On the other hand, the results of the conference were not adequate as it was initially desired by the host country, continent, UNFCCC and all others in developing world. Now, it’s really distressing that world is looking ahead to Rio+20 (to be held in 2012 in Brazil) and future climate negotiations, as scientists think Durban deal is inadequate and calling the world leaders to raise ambitions.

Based in Switzerland, Group on Earth Observations (GEO), scientist and senior programme officer, Giovanni Rum emphasized adopting a new mindset to listen to the voice of science and knowledge and address the unavoidable interconnections between global sustainability, poverty eradication, social justice and economic development in an environmentally constrained world.

It would be significant if COP17 must conclude at node of globally and legally binding agreement to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases; the pace and ambition of the Durban deal does not match the scientific evidence and even end results are based on vested interests, delegates from developing nations disappointedly said.

“The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report clearly shows that if we wish to limit temperature increase between 2.0–2.4 degrees C, along a least cost trajectory, we would have to ensure that carbon dioxide emissions peak no later than 2015,” said Johan Rockstrom, Executive Director of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

What is more, scientific research is demonstrating that a safe climate future will not be achieved through emission reductions alone; there is no need to wait for a global climate deal, but what is urgently needed is a world transition to global sustainability.

“Humanity has never been so profoundly aware of climate change and of the necessity of reducing emissions to save the next generation,” South African President Jacob Zuma said during one of the high level-dialogues. “The level of ambition on climate change should meet the demands of science.”

Participants in the dialogue also emphasized the importance of taking an integrated approach to climate change, development, poverty reduction, and global sustainability, and of recognizing them as closely connected, not competing, priorities.

Federal Secretary of newly born but old patterned Ministry of Disaster Management, Javed Malik participated in the climate talks as Pakistan’s chief negotiator.

“Nairobi Work Program (NWP) already committed in Cancun, which is the programme to assist developing, least developing and small island countries, to get familiar with the new scientific and technological advances to coup up with the challenges of climate associated disasters” he said.

Due to the international blockade policy of some developed nations, most developing countries failed to get maximum outcomes from the conference, and it’s more disturbing as experts said that legally binding agreement on Kyoto protocol and other measures may look impossible beyond 2017 or even 2020.

In response to a question, Javed Malik said that a slight improved outcome is that Pakistan has minimized emission, deforestation and forest degradation, and it has the carbon stocks available. So, through carbon trading, the country will earn a huge amount of foreign reserves, which will ultimately help improve social protection and economic conditions, give freedom from fear of disasters and climate change, and improve life of the people.


A prevailing trend is that carbon market and REDD+ approach will give benefits to poor nations as of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), but overall this carbon market phenomenon is again serving interests of European Union and their road map (presented before the world community in recent Durban talks and to some extent adopted as well) as EU can’t lose billions of Euros in terms of technology exports and earnings.

According to another analysis by the Mehmood Akhtar Cheema, Manager, Islamabad Programme Office, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), who was present in Durban during the negotiations, we all have to take rational decisions within limited time frame.

“It’s a great disappointment that developed world did not agree on the next phase of Kyoto protocol in Durban and asked for more breathing space, in a worst situation when everything is at stake due to climate change”, he further elaborated.

It is indeed a real thing that Cancun agreed principle has guided the spirit of ‘equitable access to sustainable development’ in Durban, but people in South Africa ‘the most and in world at large, were disappointed’ due to the negative and really humiliating approach taken up by Canada, Japan, United States and some other countries. Even India and China played a dual role and used climate talks for their self-interest and diplomacy.

Talking to weekly Pulse, Chief of Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, said scientific community has brought out some very clear projections of unfortunate happenings, if we don’t take action, and they have also come up with options by which we can take action in a way that will actually promote economic welfare.

Experts believe that certain aspects of climate change negotiations are a bit hopeful as the voices across the world are more loud on saving human beings climate change is directly affecting, but criticized the role of key players like China, United States, Canada, India and others, who are the main hurdles in saving the interests of the planet.

“We are not taking cognoscente of this work, so my opinion is that any future discussions and negotiations must have to be driven by the science of climate change, but I didn’t see much of that in Durban”, Dr. Pachauri added.

Climate change and global sustainability are urgent issues that require immediate action – they cannot be delayed by endless political wrangling. All countries must play their part, and move away from unsustainable development and carbon-intensive energy production and consumption. Thus, given the disparities in wealth and resources in our world, it is clear that developed countries will have to take the lead in terms of finance, technology and investment. It is only by finding ways to low-carbon growth and development that we can secure the future of our planet for all and overcome the challenge of world poverty.

US, China, Canada, Japan, India and other non-serious jokers don’t know the reality of disasters due to climatic changes; it needs very serious and climate embedded approach. No doubt, it’s imperative not only for under-developed parts of the world but also for developed nations to save the future, as the flight to build a home at mars or moon takes time.

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