WILL COPENHAGEN DELIVER? – That was the question dominating debate at a recent breakfast seminar convened by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Regional Office for Southern Africa (HBS). Attended by more than forty representatives of local government, business, civil society, academics, researchers, students and the media, the breakfast seminar sought to shed light on the prospects of reaching a comprehensive international climate deal when Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 7 to 18 December 2009.
Ahead of this crucial round of negotiations, Parties to the Convention and dominant negotiating groups have come out in force with varying positions, commitments and demands for enhanced action on climate change adaptation and mitigation, technology cooperation and climate financing in a post-Kyoto climate regime. Emerging negotiating positions vary in breadth and depth of commitments thereby setting the scene for a grueling round of talks in pursuit of an agreement at Copenhagen to stabilise the global climate.
As a green political foundation, HBS has focused on climate change and the political solutions to address it for many years. In keeping with this objective and against the background of expected dire impacts of climate change in the Southern African region, the breakfast seminar aimed to provide a platform for in-depth discussion on some of the issues likely to dominate the Copenhagen negotiations.
Particular issues discussed included adaptation to climate change in southern Africa and its place on the climate change negotiations agenda; the prospects and nature of financing mechanisms in a post-Kyoto response to Climate Change; and the likelihood of achieving a comprehensive deal at Copenhagen.
Discussions were led by illuminating statements from three speakers: Belynda Petrie, Chief Executive Officer at OneWorld Sustainable Investments in Cape Town; Steve Thorne, Technical Co-ordinator of the SouthSouthNorth (SSN) project and leader of the South Africa SSN team; and Tasneem Essop, former Provincial Minister of Environment, Planning and Economic Development in the Western Cape and current International Climate Policy Advocate for WWF-South Africa.
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Photographs of the Seminar
