Tuesday was the opening of the high level UN negotiations during COP 17 in Durban.  UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon stated that we are entering the point of no return in regards to climate change, and we must pull back from the abyss.  He stressed that CO2 emissions are at the highest they have ever been and what needs to happen over the next three days of negotiations in order to achieve a future where we can live and thrive.  He said the people of the world cannot accept a lack of real progress in Durban.  He emphasized the following four items as the necessary outcomes for COP 17: implementation of the Cancun Accords, tangible progress on establishing short-term and long-term financing for adaptation and mitigation through the Fast Track financing promised in Copenhagen and the long term financing that would be provided through the Green Climate Fund, the establishment of a second agreement period for the Kyoto Protocol because at this point it is the closet we have to a an internationally binding agreement on climate change and overall, to establish a more robust climate regime saying that “time is not on our side.”

The Secretary General also noted that it was unlikely we would see a binding climate agreement and thus continued to stress an underlying theme heard throughout the COP and ancillary conferences which is action and implementation and the need to move forward even though the UN negotiation pace is slow.   This was highlighted by the launch of the Momentum for Change initiative by the UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres last night.  The initiative focuses on climate solutions that reduce poverty, are scalable and replicable and created through public-private partnerships.

Countries will continue discussing draft texts over the next three days.  Although little is expected to come out of COP 17, there are many projects taking place world wide, large and small, that contribute to the mitigation and adaptation of climate change in the absence of international policy.  Rainforest Partnership will continue to do our part to mitigate climate change by working to improve livelihoods and protect the world’s remaining rainforests!