Two weeks of international talks in Bonn ended on something of a sour note when Saudi Arabia and two other Gulf fossil-fuel producers blocked a proposal for an updated report on the effect of a 1.5 degree increase in climate.
Agreements to date – such as they are – have focused on limiting warming to 2 degrees, but small low-lying island states fear that will be insufficient to prevent their nations becoming uninhabitable.
AFP reports:
AOSIS, supported by the European Union (EU), Australia and New Zealand, called for a technical report on the cost of reaching the 1.5 C target and the consequences of breaching it.
But it was thwarted by Saudi Arabia, with support from Kuwait and Qatar, under the UN’s consensus rule, the sources said.
Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers argue that ratcheting up action on carbon emissions will hurt their revenues as fossil-fuel consumers switch to cleaner energy.
AFP reports that the conflict, unsurprisingly, soured the mood at Bonn. So much so that someone stole and elaborately defaced Saudi Arabia’s sign. From Reuters:
Pieces of the smashed Saudi Arabia sign — about 30 cm and placed on a table to identify the delegation during negotiations — were dropped in a toilet and then photographed, delegates said. The pictures were then put up on some walls.
In fact the Guardian says it was even more elaborate:
They then dunked it in the men’s, and then in the women’s lavatories, taking photographs and writing graffiti on the pictures.
There are conflicting reports about whether the UN will investigate into the matter.
Despite the furore over Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil states blocking the island states’ proposal, Argus reports thate Yvo de Boer was fairly optimistic about the outcome.
“The work done opens the way for Cancun to deliver a full package of operational measures [that can facilitate climate action],” de Boer said as the Bonn talks drew to a close. “This session has made important progress” advancing key issues such as finance, adaptation, technology, forests and market mechanisms.
This is interesting, given that de Boer’s resignation announcement was seen as abrupt and left no obvious successor (one has since been found – Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat).
