The International Convention on Climate Change in Bali

The meeting of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - the United Nations’ Convention on the evaluation of climate change today) opens negotiations on the future of the international pacts that regard issues concerning pollution and climate change.
The Conference begins on December 3rd, 2007 in Bali, Indonesia; it is the thirteenth Conference on the environment and aims to reach a common agreement on a new international pact that, within 2009, should slow down the climate change which is in act. The effects of the Protocol will expire in 2012, but it will be complicated to get the United States and China to adhere to the Protocol during these negotiations. During the Convention, however, it will be possible to reach an agreement that defines the temperatures to watch out for, the concentrations of greenhouse gases that can be considered acceptable and other fixed points that can be useful for building the foundations for political action that can subsequently be taken. Another sector that should be considered closely in Bali is that concerning forests. The Protocol has foreseen the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), according to which the countries that reduce their emissions can yield these results to other countries. In Bali this mechanism could be strengthened with incentives for those countries that abstain from the exploitation of their forests. Some of the negotiators oppose any revision of the mechanism, above all with regard to interventions that could depress the commercial value of the accumulated credits. Attributing a value to forests and paying for their non-exploitation would mean precisely this.
States adhering to the conference should agree on the principal themes that the new pact will have to cover, such as the attempts to stop modifications to the world’s climate, but also adaptation and the technological and financial aspects. The industrialized countries will have to continue to have a leadership role in the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases, following the principle of "common but differentiated responsibility". Developing countries must be offered incentives to encourage them to adopt clean technologies and to help them minimize the costs of emissions caused by deforestation. Adaptation and mitigation have to be equally considered in the response to climate change. The XIII session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on climate change, which brought together governments, experts, scientists, humanitarian organizations and businessmen to discuss whether to execute the Kyoto Protocol , which expires in 2012, has, unfortunately, ended in failure.
In conclusion, it is necessary to affirm that with the meeting in Bali, no lasting agreement will be reached. The differing positions of the countries of the first and the third world will probably become even more marked with this umpteenth meeting of the Parties, and we are still far from achieving any significant results in the fight against climate overheating.

Guido Bissanti