On the invitation of Switzerland and Mexico, representatives from the the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat and over 40 countries met in Geneva today for a two-day meeting with the intent of bridging divergent views on how to structure and finance climate mitigation and adaptation actions around the world. Finance is one of the key issues in the ongoing negotiations under the UNFCCC and will be a critical issue at the sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 16) in Cancún, Mexico in December 2010. Cancún represents an especially important meeting as the first COP - the only venue for making official decisions on the UNFCCC - since Copenhagen. 

At last week's UN climate negotiation session in Bonn, Germany, there were some advances in the text in some respects, including moving on to line by line negotiations. However, the spirit of compromise so desperately needed at this stage seemed to be lost. So much additional bracketed text was added to the LCA text, which includes all parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, it absolutely ballooned in size. Parties seemed to be simply adding more and more of their pet issues back in, knowing their additions would not be well received by other parties or easily resolved.

Looking forward to Cancun, however, there is a glimmer of hope. Between now and then, if Parties start to tell their governments not only what they need but also what other Parties need, there could be some room for movement and compromise. In addition, the Mexican government seems to be working hard to make sure the mistakes made by the COP presidency in Copenhagen are not repeated in Cancun. They are actively engaging with civil society, discussing needs with Parties and have assured everyone that they will not try to present a renegade text as their Danish predecessors so disastrously did before them.

We need to make sure Cancun delivers on locking in decisions, not just making more political declarations. Over the coming weeks, including during the next meeting in China, Parties need to urgently explore areas of common need. 

As the second to last negotiation session before the next COP in Cancun kicks off, delegates need to drastically pick up the pace in Bonn to be able provide the needed breakthrough. At the last UNFCCC session in June the mood was good and some progress was made, but the gap on big issues is still glaring.

During the last session, the long term cooperative action (LCA) Chair’s text was read and studied by a single contact group, which was followed by a new draft at the end of the session. In mid-July a revised Chair’s text was released. At this week’s session, Parties must get down to line-by-line negotiations and start to eliminate some bracketed options from the table.

One key issue that will be discussed in the Kyoto Protocol are the rules which govern the emissions from forestry and land use. The current proposals contain loopholes that would enable developed countries not only to increase emissions from logging but also to avoid accounting for these emissions.

For paving the way to Cancun, the EU must firstly deliver on previously made commitments, including finance and its commitment to continue the Kyoto Protocol. The EU has always had the most impact in international negotiations when it has led from the front by unilaterally adopting clear and ambitious positions in a timely way.