CAN LA - English

DOCUMENT CAN-LA TOWARDS THE COP 15
(Based on CAN positions)

 

I. Shared Vision

Climate change is here now, and it is a matter of survival for humanity and the environment. Since the Fourth Assessment Report[1] of the IPCC[2], the scientific evidence indicates that the impacts of climate change in Latin America, and it will be much more severe than expected, affecting mainly the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the region. Among the major adverse effects identified: rising sea levels, hurricanes, droughts, floods, shrinkage of glaciers, loss of biodiversity, forest fires, among many others.

 
Studies in recent years, including the Stern Report[3], say the costs of inaction on mitigation and fitting will increase significantly, further inhibiting our ability to keep increasing the Earth's average temperature below 1, 5 ° C.

Consequently, the Copenhagen agreement should be guided by the following principles:
• Coherence with a climate record that gives us a high probability of keeping global warming below the dangerous level of 1.5 °C. Concentrations of greenhouse gases will ultimately be reduced to 350 ppm of carbon dioxide equivalent, CO2 eq. This requires global emissions to have a peak (maximum) in 2011 and the rapid decline towards 100% below 1990 levels by 2050,
• The responsibility and equity between developed and developing countries. This includes ecological debt caused by the overuse of the climate system as a sink calculated as historical and per capita terms, as the presented, e.g, the proposal of Bolivia. Developed countries have a double duty: they have to quantify their commitments in order to reduce emissions, and they have to support to the developing countries with resources for adaptation and efforts to deviate substantially from the projected growth in baseline emissions:
• All the countries should adopt a total reduction target of more than 40% by 2020, below 1990 levels. The national targets should be derived from this overall objective.

 • Developed countries should commit to provide at least 200 billion U.S. dollars in American funding and technology to developing countries to cover the costs according to their appropriate national measures (NAMAS[4]). These must be measurable, reportable and verifiable (MRV)

• The mitigation actions in developing countries according to their abilities should lead to a substantial deviation from emissions growth.

 
II. Adaptation

 

Adaptation is particularly vital and relevant to Latin America, especially for those most vulnerable countries, where every year kill thousands of people and ecosystems are devastated as a result of climate change.

 

In that sense, the current response of the international community to limit global warming and providing resources to adapt to climate impacts is insufficient.

 

Therefore, the Copenhagen agreement should include a clear strategy for collaboration and commitment massively expanded on adaptation in all countries, especially the Annex 1 countries to fulfill their historic obligations and provide funding and other resources in order to support adaptation. These commitments must be measurable, reportable and verifiable (MRV).

 
One outcome of Copenhagen must be the provision of significant funding for adaptation in developing countries. The funding should prioritize the most vulnerable countries and, within them, the communities most affected by the phenomenon. All funds must be additional to Official Development Assistance (ODA) of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI), which are still needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

This adaptation funding should be from innovative sources, predictable, and they will be provided as grants rather than loans.

III. Mitigation

The concentration of greenhouse gases should be reduced to 350 p.p.m. in order to stay below 1.5 ° C, and in that way, avoid the serious impacts of climate change on the level of warming. Therefore, emissions from developed and developing countries will reach a peak emission of about 2011.

MITIGATION: Developed countries (Annex 1)

Annex I countries should take primary responsibility in the next 10 years which will take place the transition to decarbonize city. As the table shows, this implies an overall reduction of over 40%. The Annex I must aim at the maximum rate possible domestic emissions reduction and, simultaneously, transfer the resources necessary for the remaining reductions to be made at non-Annex I countries.
Developed countries should fulfill their emission reduction commitments at the national level, limiting enforcement mechanisms outside its territory.

 
Table 1. Comparison of the two paths of high budget constraint Graph

 

Source: Baer et al, 2009.

Figure 1

Source: Baer et al, 2009.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any purchase of emission reduction certificates from a developing country to achieve the goal of a developed country, will not affect the demand of developed countries to contribute to a path of low carbon countries development - the two developed countries obligations must be fulfilled independently.

MITIGATION: Developing Countries

To ensure that the agreement reflects the diversity of developing countries it must ensure fair processes and it must allow that the mitigation actions (NAMAS) in these countries will be distinct and consistent with its fair share of effort.

Based on the support of developed countries, developing countries must design and implement Projects for low carbon emission, in order to achieve their sustainable development objectives, while achieving a low carbon economy. The development and implementation of these projects should be supported by financing, technology and capacity of developed countries.

A binding agreement in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC[5]) should quantify the emission reductions to be achieved by developing countries taking into account the financial and technological support provided by developed countries.

The least developed countries and small island developing States, should not be required to submit projects for low carbon for supporting, but they may have individual NAMAS mechanism installation for financial and technological support.

The level of mitigation measures by developing countries depend on the level of supporting from developed countries which must be measurable, reportable and verifiable (MVR) under the UNFCCC.

REDD Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries

Deforestation and forest degradation account for approximately 20% of global emissions each year. This is of particular importance for the region, especially, considering that natural forests have the function of protecting watersheds and the hydrologic cycle of water, They moderate extreme fluctuations of the local climate, sequester carbon, and They are also livelihood for millions of people, among others. In this sense, REDD has components of mitigation and adaptation that occur as a chance to prevent deforestation and to achieve sustainable development.

The Copenhagen agreement should include the objective of stopping the destruction of natural forests and reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation into zero in 2020.

For this, the international REDD mechanism must:

• Prioritize the conservation of natural forests: It is necessary to promote plantations on degraded soils, which must be done with native plants (native).

 • Treat all the underlying causes of deforestation to relieve pressure on forests and lands that produce emissions of greenhouse gases.

• Include safeguards to maintain biodiversity and prevent the conversion of natural ecosystems into plantations.

• Ensuring the effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in all stages and activities.

• Require that the mechanisms for monitoring, reporting and verification of REDD activities apply not only to reducing emissions but also social and environmental safeguards throughout the forest maintenance.

• Provide an adequate, predictable and sustainable financing for quick and urgent action from 2010.

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

The CDM has had poor results with respect to their emission reduction targets and contribution to sustainable development. In the second commitment period, the CDM should be replaced by a new mechanism which does not show its defects. If you opt for reforming the current CDM, filter changes should target projects that are additional and do not show co-benefits.

Maritime and aviation

Emissions from aviation and international shipping are a major source of emissions and are growing fast. CAN-LA is convinced that the most promising method for the inclusion of these emissions is to follow a sectored and cooperative perspective, with the parties working together to reduce emissions in the international arena.

A mechanism to reduce these emissions must:

·         Ensure that profits will be spent on action against climate change in developing countries so that they, as a group, will be net beneficiaries. Most of the profits will be handled by a fund established and fully accounted for under the context of the UNFCCC. A proportion will be established to assist operators in every country in the administrative and technological costs.

·        A system of exemptions and thresholds to other web sites except traffic from / to the least developed countries and small island states (and their emissions are a fraction of the problem), without causing significant leakage of carbon through trade distortions.

·         A clause allowing a review and adjustment of the scheme after a few years if any adverse impact is observed in developing countries.

IV. Finance

Negotiations for an agreement in Copenhagen will depend on a number of key elements, such as ensuring that sufficient financial assistance will be available, in the short and long term, to support the development of action by developing countries to tackle climate change. Without immediate and substantial commitments of financial resources from developed countries, in the short and long term, there is a greater likelihood of impasse in negotiations, and a significant increase in the extent of damage and costs of the future climate change.

All new financial contributions must be additional to Official Development Assistance (ODA), which is required to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Also, these funds must be MVR by civil society.

It has to be established a new financial architecture as established by the UNFCCC, which guarantees a stable flow of financial resources, predictable and sufficient to implement the processes of change, disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change in developing countries.

Any compensation of the aims of developed countries by buying credits from developing countries must be paid in excess of the funding referred to above.

V. Technology

For the increase in global mean temperature is kept below 1.5 ° C, and to help vulnerable countries adapt to impacts of climate change, global revolution is needed in research, development and rapid diffusion of technologies environmentally sustainable, including renewable energy and energy efficiency. This will require a transfer of resources (information, skills, expertise, finance, property and equipment, etc.), from developed to developing countries, along the chain of technology, and support the creation of conditions in all countries to permit the adoption of such technologies.

 This will require large amounts of public funds channeled directly to support the goals and technology programs; and also, the use of public funds to leverage private sector investment and remove barriers to technology transfer that patents represents for this and other routes.

VI. Training

CAN-LA is urged to implement the program more fully on research and systematic observation, as well as education and public awareness contained in articles 5 and 6 of the UNFCCC.

VII. Legal Architecture

The Kyoto Protocol established a system whereby developed countries (Annex 1) commit to binding targets for reducing emissions and a system of international enforcement of these objectives.

Copenhagen should ensure that all developed countries (Annex 1) set targets for reducing emissions and a commitment to provide adequate and predictable funding and technology support, an uphold for a compliance regime, at least as strong as the Kyoto Protocol, through the inclusion of strong penalties for noncompliance.

This means a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and a supplementary agreement to ensure that the United States make an effort comparable to other developed countries.

The second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and the supplementary agreement, legally binding should consider the elements that are part of this document to be adopted in Copenhagen.