This is the official blog of the Canadian Youth Delegation to the UN climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland (COP14/CMP4). The delegation, a project of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition and TakingITGlobal, is a diverse team of committed young Canadian leaders, from coast to coast to coast. They will be live on the ground at the talks in Poland from Nov. 29th to Dec. 12th. Stay tuned for the latest news and updates from these critical negotiations!!
Russia wins third place for its presentation at the AWG-KP workshop on mitigation the day before yesterday. (That's right: there's so much Fossilworthy behavior here that we're developing a backlog.)
Russia tried to convince the world that these days, it's not really an Annex I "developed" country--but rather a vast, freezing wasteland selflessly producing fossil fuels and energy-intensive products for the rest of the world. In exchange for its suffering and sacrifice, the argument went, Russia should be considered more as a developing country--and shouldn't have rich-country-style emissions caps.
Russia, we love you, but we love our habitable planet even more. Please accept this Fossil Award as a token of our appreciation.
SECOND PLACE: JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, and CANADA
Japan, Australia, and Canada share second place dishonours for the dangerous outbreak of backsliding at yesterday's AWG-KP contact group on mitigation commitments. When these countries signed the Kyoto Protocol, they agreed to limit their emissions relative to 1990 levels. But yesterday they appeared to be rethinking their vows.
Japan piped up that the 1990 baseline year was "not fair," and proposed that the world should just "move on" from the 1990 baseline. Australia said this discussion should be "taken forward." And Canada said it was interested in "exploring" the Japanese proposal.
Exploring the Japanese proposal! What an exciting exploration that would be. You might find rising sea levels... extreme weather patterns... and look! Over there! It's... a Fossil of the Day Award!
FIRST PLACE: ITALY
Italy? But Italy has been so quiet here in Poznan!
Indeed, Italy wins First Fossil tonight for its delegation's deceptive silence--even as their colleagues in Brussels and Rome do all they can to destroy the Poznan process.
Italy's weapon against Poznan? Deadlock the EU negotations by requesting revisions on the European Community's Pact on Energy and Climate. The Minister of Environment of Italy suggested that the 20% by 2020 commitment is unrealistic because Italy cannot quantify the costs or trust the scientific basis for increasing the use of renewable energy. We think it's unrealistic to expect us to swallow that excuse.
And it's not just targets: By preventing a unified EU position, Italy is running away from any commitments on adaptation and technology transfer to developing countries.
Italy is so confident that its trickery will undermine COP14 that its Minister suggested that if Poznan fails, then ALL targets should be reconsidered before Copenhagen.
Italy, it's very clever. But the Fossil of the Day Supreme Command Council has eyes everywhere. Fossils for you!
The Fossil-of-the-day Awards are given nightly at 6pm to countries that block progress at the United Nations climate change negotiations. The winners are chosen by a vote each afternoon of the Climate Action Network, which comprises more than 400 NGOs from every world region.
