Stop talking, take action!

Guest blog from Esther Neuhaus, Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and Development


The last day at the COP in Poznan is when Ministers have to hurry to take any decisions with respect to the outcomes of negotiations. This is usually the moment when pressure to take decisions increases. When no one really assumes leadership, then the bad and evil appear.

In this COP, Canada, Australia and Japan played this role, not encouraging any person wishing to contribute with a successful outcome of the discussions in Poznan and in Copenhagen. They opposed the targets of 25 to 40% of GHG emissions reductions for rich countries, simply ignoring the footnote in the Bali Plan of Action, which has to be transferred to the main agreement text.

If we do not reach half way here, then the efforts in 2009 have to be huge. Canada and Australia, together with New Zealand and the United States opposed the inclusion of indigenous rights in the text on reducing deforestation, provoking many negative reactions.

Last but not least, the President of the Conference, the Polish Minister for the Environment, declared that the event will be closed with a declaration of the President. Everything indicates that there will be no negotiating text at this COP and that the chair of the Meeting will get the mandate to produce a negotiating text in 2009, considering submissions by the parties which can be made until the end of April.

On Thursday Brazil officially launched during this COP its National Plan on Climate Change, a 129 page document which highlights the main strategies the country pretends to adopt during future years and decades to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The Brazilian Government is convinced that its plan is much better than the one of China and other countries, mainly because it was elaborated during a process of public consultation, which counted with the participation of the Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and the Development. The event was well prepared and organized and very well attended. At the same time the Government introduced the Amazon Fund, destined to help to reach the target of a 40 per cent fall in deforestation between 2006 and 2010, and a further 30 per cent cut in the subsequent 4-year-period. It is a private fund with public administration and a steering committee.

We recognize the initiative of a developing country to set any target to reduce deforestation, which accounts for 75 per cent of emissions in Brazil, but are also conscious that the Plan should not remain just a sheet of paper and that a strong governance and monitoring structure is needed to help implement the actions of the plan. At the same time proposals for Brazil to become a leader for carbon capture and storage technologies, as made by Lord Nicholas Stern who participated in the panel of this side event, have to be evaluated in a very critical way. The Clean Development Mechanism should be free of any nuclear and CCS projects, which should only be seen as complementary market mechanism, not substituting for strong public policies to tackle the challenges posed by climate change.

Meanwhile, the climate is changing faster than the negotiations advance. The financial crisis should not be used as an excuse not to take actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change, as the Norwegian minister said at the Plenary session. The climate crises is far worse than the financial one. Developed and developing countries need to listen to each other, understand and build more confidence to take effective actions. Stop talking, take action.