COP20—Lima Local weather Convention — World Points

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April 13, 2025

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by Anup Shah
This web page Created Saturday, January 24, 2015

This web page: https://www.globalissues.org/article/805/cop20-lima-climate-conference.
To print all data (e.g. expanded facet notes, reveals different hyperlinks), use the print model:

On this web page:

Introduction
Assembly consequence
Mainstream media reporting
In context: frequent however differentiated tasks
Extra data
Information tales from IPS

Introduction

December 1 – 14, 2014, Lima, Peru was the venue for the twentieth annual United Nations Local weather Change Convention, often known as the twentieth Convention of the Events — or COP 20.

The aim of this convention was to create a common settlement on local weather change motion and start the method of financing mitigation.

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Assembly consequence

The assembly ended with all nations agreeing to chop again greenhouse gasoline emissions. Generally known as the Lima Accord, this treaty shouldn’t be legally binding and nations should not have to specify how a lot they may reduce, as an alternative agreeing to report their plans again by March 2015.

Whereas for a lot of it gave the impression of a profitable consequence, others have been upset, similar to poor nations struggling to rebuild from present impacts of local weather change who have been alarmed on the disappearance of loss and harm commitments from the ultimate textual content which has been a part of the dialogue for years.

The worldwide local weather motion, 350.org, summarized the disappointments and hopeful facets of the assembly consequence, noting

The brand new settlement doesn’t replicate the urgency of the local weather disaster
Some good agreements – however no measures to make sure implementation
Least developed and susceptible nations unnoticed within the chilly
Divestment (from fossil gas reliance) is extra essential than ever
World momentum for actual options is stronger than ever and can carry on going.

In attempting to place a constructive spin on the general disappointment they felt, they concluded, In the long run, a worldwide local weather treaty is only one software to fight local weather change. Actual change goes to proceed to return from the grassroots. The UN Local weather Talks proceed to be a spot the place the world’s nations comes collectively to debate this disaster and persons are placing in monumental efforts to verify Paris [the next global meeting] gained’t be like Copenhagen which was stuffed with disappointments regardless of large guarantees.

Samantha Smith, Chief of WWF’s World Local weather and Vitality Initiative, was fairly scathing of the assembly consequence saying that political expediency gained over scientific urgency. She additionally famous that Developed nation governments couldn’t even handle to elucidate how they may ship the long-promised US$100 billion per 12 months in local weather finance by 2020. In a transfer that seemingly dismissed the plight of essentially the most susceptible nations, they fully eliminated any significant language about ‘loss and harm’.

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Mainstream media reporting

As with virtually each earlier assembly (with occasional exceptions), mainstream media reporting was very poor given the significance of this international challenge. The place the assembly was reported it was typically in direction of the tip, and simply sound chew sort summaries saying all nations agreed to emission cuts and that this was a serious enchancment.

Whereas the treaty continued to say it honors the long-standing frequent however differentiated tasks the mainstream media reporting (as in most years) has usually failed to offer rationalization and context of this precept that has been an essential a part of these talks for over 2 a long time; that poor and creating nations shouldn’t bear the identical tasks because the developed ones (as a result of they aren’t the reason for the anthropogenic carbon emissions over the earlier a long time which have led to this, which is detailed far more on this website’s web page on local weather justice).

A touch in direction of this precept might have been offered as a viewpoint of China or India, given the impression they’re being obstacles, relatively then explaining this precept in additional context.

That was simply one of many points skirted over or omitted from frequent reporting. Others included points on financing, know-how help for poorer nations, and many others. Behind the scenes, for many years, wealthy nations have stalled on these items or actively prevented attempting to share know-how and many others, which is barely reported.

Yearly, this criticism is product of mainstream reporting, so with out following these negotiations annually, it may be simple to return away with the impression that this assembly had a constructive consequence.

However as this dialogue hosted by Democracy Now! reveals, there have been quite a few essential problems with rivalry:

Emissions-Chopping Deal Reached at COP 20 Lima, However Will It Assist Stop Catastrophic Local weather Change?, Democracy Now!, December 15, 2014.

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In context: frequent however differentiated tasks

A few years in the past all nations agreed that local weather change was largely the results of actions from immediately’s industrialized nations, as carbon dioxide — the principle greenhouse gasoline — stays within the environment for many years. But, the poorest would find yourself struggling essentially the most for an issue they largely didn’t trigger. The approaches to mitigation (emissions discount) would subsequently be completely different for these teams of nations — the frequent however differentiated tasks precept.

It’s on this context that the dialogue for loss and harm has come about. And it’s one thing that wealthy nations are eager to eliminate .

The years of resistance on this challenge (and plenty of others) means every time it’s mentioned once more the reactions appear to get much more hostile. Mixed with the dearth of detailed context within the mainstream media protection of this side, it then turns into simpler every time to see culprits as China and India given their monumental greenhouse emissions lately, in comparison with the far better quantity by the industrialized nations over the longer interval. See this website’s part on local weather justice for extra detailed background.

And as this website has stated for years on the local weather justice web page, the wealthy nations are delaying any significant motion till it’s ultimately — and disproportionately — paid for the by the creating nations. New Delhi primarily based Nitin Sethi, affiliate editor at Enterprise Commonplace, interviewed within the earlier talked about video says the identical factor, however extra frankly:

There isn’t a motion that’s going to occur between now and 2020. All of that was to be finished by the developed nations. They [rich nations] principally have simply stated at Lima that we aren’t going to do any greater than what we’re doing to this point, and the burden can shift onto the post-2020 period, the place different creating nations need to share it. So, to me, it signifies actually negotiation in dangerous religion.

Nitin Sethi, Emissions-Chopping Deal Reached at COP 20 Lima, However Will It Assist Stop Catastrophic Local weather Change?, Democracy Now!, December 15, 2014

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