No Chinese Transparency, No Eco-Aid

As the marathon Climate Conference comes to a close, the United States says “Chinese transparency” is crucial to its Eco-Aid proposal.

In Copenhagen, the American representatives basically have done three things: walk off the plane, hold press conferences and pick on China.

Hillary Clinton Makes Things Difficult for China

A few hours after she arrived in Copenhagen yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the United States, along with other developed nations, would provide US$100 billion to developing nations by 2020; however, “unless this final treaty includes commitment to transparency, America is unlikely to participate.”

Clinton also pointed a finger at China by saying, “When the world’s second largest, perhaps the largest as of now, carbon emission country cannot offer transparency, it is simply unimaginable for the United States to recognize an international treaty that is either legally binding or involves financial commitment.”

“And then there is the MRV (MRV is diplomatic shorthand for ways to insure that steps by countries are measurable, reportable and verifiable). The fact that Americans constantly bring up this issue reflects the logic of ‘if you’re not doing something I like, I can and will make you pay’ that is characteristic of the American national style.” Zou Ji, former Chinese climate negotiator and deputy dean of the Environment School at the People’s University of China, said that the MRV issue, compared to things like a concrete emission-reduction goal, technology and financial aid, really isn’t that important.

For the time being, both government representatives and NGOs are expressing growing expectations for American President Obama’s arrival on the 18th, hoping that he may be able to break the impasse.

The director of the Bhutanese Natural Reservation Association told the CBN (Chinese Business Network) reporter that future chances of establishing concrete agreements will be scarce if Copenhagen doesn’t work out right, and it’s simply too risky to expect so much from Obama.

America Offers a Deal: You Give Me Transparency, I Give You Money

At 10 pm on the 16th, Copenhagen time (5 am on the 17th, Beijing time), just as our CBN reporter was about to leave the Bella Center, a general unmoderated caucus that was originally set for 1 pm finally began. In the end, delegates from several smaller developing nations motioned for early leave (they were terribly sleepy), while bigger nations continued the negotiations. As a matter of fact, around 5 pm that day (midnight of the 17th, Beijing time) certain representatives from African countries had already left the convention center. They told our reporter that leaving really wouldn’t make that much of a difference.

At the Copenhagen conference, attended by 192 nations that signed the United Nations Climate Change Framework Treaty (abbreviated as ‘treaty’ below), final negotiation and decision responsibilities were transferred to a few signatories in the last 48 hours of the meetings.

The American delegation obtained greater decision-making rights as Hillary Clinton joined the team as secretary of State, bringing some hope that a concrete pact may eventually be agreed upon. However, the United States made it clear that major developing countries must abide by the MRV principle if developed countries like America should provide financial and technical support.

Mrs. Clinton stressed that funding from developed nations must go to the least developed nations first, and that “the treaty ultimately agreed on must ensure that all main economic entities undertake emission reduction measures, and that all main economic entities make such measures transparent.”

The US$100 billion proposal corresponds with the long-term fund raising intentions of the European Union. According to Allan Young, manager of the climate and energy branch of an international environmental protection organization, this is the first time America promised such long-term eco-funding for developing nations.

Despite the groundbreaking nature of the proposal, Mrs. Clinton did not clarify what proportion of the $100 billion would come from the United States, how much would come from public funding or how much would come from the carbon credit exchange market.

How to Define “Transparency” Becomes Critical

Carter Roberts, President and CEO of the WWF, said to our CBN reporter that the $100 billion proposal from Mrs. Clinton gave the conference, which had somewhat reached a stalemate by now, a much-needed breath of fresh air. But whether or not the proposal becomes reality depends largely upon whether China and America can reach an agreement on the definition of “transparency” and whether Obama can place climate change legislation at the top of his New Year’s agenda.

Mr. Zou Ji commented, “Negotiations are supposed to be like this; no success until the very last minute. However, this time it is difficult because the main problem of developed nations lies with America, but the American Congress has not given their delegation any specific rights; therefore, even if the American representatives promise anything, it remains uncertain whether the American government will actually execute the promise.”

At the Chinese press conference on the evening of the 16th, Su Wei, the vice-director of the Chinese delegation and the minister of the Climate Change Strategy division of Chinese Development and Reform Commission, said that, with regard to MRV requirements, transparency could be achieved through means of national communication.

A Sketchy Treaty at Best?

As our CBN reporter concluded this article, leaders from several nations have begun to speak at the final stage of the Copenhagen conference – the Climate Summit. On the 17th, 48 world leaders were scheduled to speak; however, disappointingly, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who belongs to the Umbrella Group countries, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has always been enthusiastic about carbon emissions, both failed to provide any concrete measures in their speeches.

“It has become a political choice, whether we choose a sketchy, loose, low-quality treaty or not.” Mr. Zou said that the Chinese government does wish to reach an agreement of some sort.

It is highly likely that this conference will continue until late into the night of the 18th. A United Nations staff informed our CBN reporter that they had been told not to leave the Bella Center, and that they needed to work late into the night.