Friday, September 04, 2009
Open letter to the Ambassador in charge of negotiations on climate
Sir,
If you do not remember me and the program for which I work, I am Florent Baarsch, the “tracker” for France. We met once in Poznan last year and this year in Bonn in June
One member of our team was present during recent discussions in Bonn III. Our whole team will be present in Bangkok, then probably in Barcelona and certainly in Copenhagen. We’re eager to continue to “track” your progress and to encourage you to take ambitious, fair and courageous positions in the talks to address climate change.
I send this email to express a number of questions that I hope you or your collaborators can answer. These issues include the French memorandum, but also the reshuffle and the recent talks in Bonn which just completed. The size of Adopt a Negotiator’s audience is growing quickly and more and more readers are curious about your positions and the thinking behind those positions.
Government reshuffle:
Following the administration reshuffle after the European elections, Minister of State Jean-Louis Borloo became officially responsible for the climate negotiations. Does this mean that there is no longer a shared competence between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Environment Ministry, or perhaps has nothing changed? I personally see a strong political signal in preparation of Copenhagen, showing the importance of this issue for France, but maybe I’m wrong. Could you tell me more about that?
Memorandum:
In the memorandum dated June 3, 2009, paragraph 7, it appears the expression “on a autonomous basis.” This refers directly to the establishment of a system for adaptation to climate change in developing countries. How are you defining autonomy? Is the challenge using technology recognized in the Convention or financial aid still under discussion at present? Again, thank you for that clarification.
Declaration of Yvo de Boer at Bonn III:
Last Tuesday, Mr. Yvo de Boer said that the countries in Annex I were coming together around the common goal of reductions between 15 and 21% for 2020 (based on year 1990). Beyond the fact that this doesn’t get us to where IPCC tells us we need to go, it is worrying to note that France and the European Union also have stopped making their voices heard. Indeed, the European Union in paragraph 5 of the decision of Council of Ministers of the Environment March 2, 2009 affirmed the need for a 30% reduction of emissions under an international agreement, the commitment is listed in paragraph 17 of the French memorandum. Can you provide more information about this?
2 ° C:
In the second paragraph of the memorandum presents an ambitious and necessary objective – the objective of limiting global warming below 2 ° C above the pre-industrial levels. This appears especially urgent in light of the findings of the IPCC. According to the findings of the IPCC, to prevent global warming is greater than 2 ° C, we must reduce anthropogenic emissions between 25 and 40% compared to 1990 in 2020, and between 50 and 85% in 2050. The question then is how we can achieve the objectives presented in the memorandum but also aims to present a balance in negotiations. Can you tell me how is France going to encourage other countries in Annex I to become more ambitious?
To conclude this message I would like to share a hope that many young people, NGOs, and citizens have. With the Copenhagen conference’s profound role in the setting the course for humanity going forward, we hope some of the most important heads of states and governments worldwide will attend COP15. In December 2008 the President of the Republic, Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy helped an agreement is reached within the climate energy package. Can we again count on the Presidents presence again this year?
Please Ambassador in charge of negotiations on climate, accept this expression of my solidarity and sustainable greetings.
Florent Baarsch, French Tracker
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Have you ever wondered who actually makes the agreements on behalf of your country at those big global summits and conferences? We did too. and as we really want all of our countries to agree to a safe and fair Climate Change treaty in December, we decided to do something about it.
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