Despite increasing scientific evidence indicating the need for immediate action, over a hundred environment ministers meeting in Poznań, Poland, are having difficulty finding common ground in defining a draft new climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
Some used the financial and economic crisis to slow down negotiations, while others preferred not to act until the US, which never ratified Kyoto, makes clear commitments to limit its escalating carbon footprint.
In the past two weeks, however, the world's emerging economies have shown impressive leadership in unveiling wide-ranging plans.
In a move to prompt global collective action, Mexico yesterday (11 December) announced a plan to cut 2002 greenhouse gas emission levels in half by 2050, a target made possible via voluntary and non-binding commitments to improve energy efficiency in heavy industry, particularly the cement and oil sectors.
Speaking in Poznań, Mexican Environment Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira said his country's goal of using solar power, wind and other clean technologies could only be reached with the financial and technological help of wealthier nations.
Last week, Brazil pledged to cut its annual deforestation rate by 70 percent by 2017 - which could reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 30-45 percent over the next decade.
South Korea said it would announce an emissions cap next year. South Africa approved a plan whereby it would stabilise its greenhouse gas emissions between 2020 and 2025, beginning to reduce them between 2030 and 2035. India outlined a national plan that would boost solar power production. Angola, Pakistan and Nigeria are reportedly developing their own mitigation actions that would be able to be implemented with measurable, reportable and verifiable support.
"One of the things that has constrained this process in the past is the impression that developing countries are not acting on climate change," said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is hosting the talks. "In fact, nothing could be further from the truth."
Meanwhile, positive signals also came from the US. Yesterday (11 December), California approved a plan to implement a law requiring the state to dramatically cut its CO2 emissions, setting a precedent for national and international action. The Global Warming Solutions Act is the first statewide effort to cap emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020 (about 30 percent below business as usual).
Seven Western states (Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Utah) and four Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario) followed California's lead by pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions as part of a Western Climate Initiative.
Australia will also unveil a plan next Monday on cutting emissions, according to reports.
"There is a push for green growth and green investment to prevent the next economic crisis," said de Boer. "A self-financing climate compact, using resources created through climate regulations, for example through levies on emissions trading or auctioning of emissions permits can push that green growth," he added.
Delegates are convinced that a final agreement next December in Copenhagen can be struck only if targets are balanced with access to funding, finance and technology transfer. "Otherwise it will just be words on paper," one delegate noted.
