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COP16 DAY 3 CANCUN, MEXICO DECEMBER 1st, 2010

OUTREACHa multi-stakeholder magazine on environment and sustainable development.

THE MESSY PUZZLEOF CLIMATE FINANCEBY MARTIN STADELMANN, J. TIMMONS ROBERT & AXEL MICHAELOWA


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Outreach is a multistakeholder Magazinewhich is published daily at COP16.The articles written are intended to reect

those of the authors alone or whereindicated a coalitions opinion.

OUTREACH is produced by:

ContentsOUTREACH

EDITORIAL TEAM

Editorial Advisor

Felix DoddsStakeholder Forum

EditorNicola Williams

Stakeholder Forum

Political Editor

Sabrina Chesterman

Design and Layout

Cesar Huertawww.coroot.com/cesarhuerta

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Martin StadelmannCenter for Internationaland Comparative Studies

J. Timmons RobertDirector of the Center for

Environmental Studies

at Brown University,US

Axel MichaelowaOxford Institute

for Energy Studies

The China-U.S.Youth Climate Exchange

Women Watch

Uchita de ZoysaConvenor Climate Sustainability

PLATFORM

Felix DoddsExecutive Director, Stakeholder

Forum for a Sustainable Future

Sebrina ChestermanClimate Scientist at

OneWorld Sustainable

Investments

The messy puzzleof climate nance

The Challenge is not Adapting

to a Liveable World!

Linking the Rio Conventions the launch of the Ecosystems

Pavilion at COP 16

Global UN Commitments,

Resolutions and other

Intergovernmental OutcomesLinking Gender Equality,

Climate Change andSustainable Development

Chinese-U.S. Youth Launch

Climate Solutions Exchange in

Cancun

Prole: Sbastian Duyck

Multitilateralism Works

The Andean social

management of natural

resources

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Submitting stories to Outreach

Outreach is a multi-stakeholder magazine on environment and sustainable developmentproduced by Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future at various intergovernmentalconferences. At COP16, Outreach will be distributed in the negotiations area at the ofcial

publication table, in the side events area for civil society groups and stakeholders, andonline for those unable to attend the conference. Your can submit articles for potentialpublication in Outreach via the Editor, Nicola Williams, at [email protected] Submissions should be between 500-750 words (+image if available) and letters toworld leaders approximately 200 words.

An individuals article is the opinion ofthat author alone, and does not reect the

opinions of all stakeholders.

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The bottomline for nance negotia-

tions at Cancun will focus on theestablishment of a New Fund, fo-

llowing the announcement in the Copen-hagen Accord of the Copenhagen GreenClimate Fund. While this new fund maybecome a cornerstone of a post-2012agreement, it is only a part of the largerpuzzle of climate nance.

Key questions:

sources, governance,

MRV, channels and use

Before Cancun, ve key questions on the

Copenhagen promises of US$30 Billion(between 2010 and 2012) and US$100Billion (yearly by 2020) remained. Firstly,which sources does climate nance stem

from; how much public, how much private?How many loans, and how concessional?Secondly, who is governing those funds,the UN or a decentralized governancestructure? Third, what is counted asclimate nance, and how and by whom

are the ows monitored, reported and

veried (MRV)? Fourth, through whichchannels is the money owing; through

a centralized UN fund, as the one to beestablished in Cancun, or through variousmultilateral and bilateral channels? Andfth, for which purposes and in which

countries is climate nance to be used?

The messy puzzle

of climate nance

PHOTO: Stock.Xchng

The answers of the High-level Advisory Group

The recent report of the UN High-levelAdvisory Group on Climate ChangeFinancing made clear the US$100 Billionis attainable by 2020. However it isimportant to note the scale of challengein terms of raising the funding throughpublic sources, with private funds and thecarbon market needed to bolster the fund.The report astutely ags the inuence the

Multilateral Development Banks will have,especially in relation to channelling thefunds.

The emerging, messy

picture: why MRV is key

The emerging architecture of climatenance will be focused around multiple

sources, decentralized governance andmultiple channels.Within this messy picture, monitoring,reporting and verifying (MRV) will

be crucial to assess levels, sources,

channels, usage and effectiveness ofclimate nance, but also to avoid overlaps

of programs, identify funding gaps andassure a minimum level of accountabilityto the Framework Convention.The recent EU report on fast start nance

Why rules for MRV areessential and a case for

Ofcial Climate Finance

for Cancun underscored the fundamental

need for international MRV. The EUperspective on multilateral channels wasmade clear, however it failed to outlie theindividual contributions of member statesor the use of bilateral ows. In addition the

consistency of reporting between the EUand other industrialised countries is notassured.

Level of new and

additional ows

While all mentioned MRV parts areimportant, the focus here will be the rst

and most debated issue what is the levelof climate funds? Or, more specically, if

we take the wording from the FrameworkConvention and the Copenhagen Accord:What is the level of new and additional

climate funds?

Developing countries insist on new andadditional ows as they fear that promised

climate funds are just recycled pledges

or funds diverted from developmentassistance. For assessing this level of

new and additional ows, we need toaddress the question: what is the baseline,

above which funds may be seen as newand additional?

ByMartin Stadelmann,

J. Timmons Robert

and Axel Michaelowa

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Martin Stadelmannis a researcher at the Center for Interna-tional and Comparative Studies, ETH andUniversity of Zurich, and project managerat the Myclimate foundation.

J. Timmons Roberts

is Director of the Center for Environmen-tal Studies at Brown University, US; andauthor of Greening Aid (Oxford Universi-ty Press) and A Climate of Injustice (MIT

Press).

Baselines for new and

additional ows

In evaluating options for new and addition

climate nance we have explored eight

options for baselines, starting withthe developed countries wish to haveno baseline denition and the one of

developing countries, to only count ows

above 0.7% level of Gross National Income(GNI). The extremity of these positions is

not feasible within the political mandatewhere decisions are made; hence theanalysis had to dismiss further options.

The two pragmatic options are plausible,rstly new sources only, as new sources,

especially those related to carbon pricingwhich are less prone to compete withdevelopment assistance than ordinarybudget contributions. The second is abovepre-dened projection of development

assistance, which would avoid the

diversion of both existing and futuredevelopment ows. To make this second

option politically acceptable for the North,the projection would need some exibility

for adapting the level to economic boomsand recessions.

Do we need a new

currency?

Depending on the baseline denition,

none or even all funds are to be callednew and additional. Ultimately, hardly

any baseline will ever be accepted bydeveloping countries. If any baseline,

they may agree that funding is new andadditional above current climate nance.

However, this baseline has only merits ifwe can clearly dene climate nance and

assure that we have no major diversionof existing and planned developmentassistance. They only way to assure thisis to introduce a new currency: Ofcial

Climate Finance.

The case for Ofcial

Climate Finance

Ofcial Climate Finance (OCF) wouldconsist of ows that are clearly separate

to Ofcial Development Assistance

(ODA), a measure governed by theOECD. Additionally, the internationalcommunity may dene some rules for

OCF, such as: relation of ows to climate

change mitigation or adaptation, level ofconcessionality required, and inclusion ofprivate and carbon market ows.

With OCF, the assessment of new andadditional would be much easier and

effective, as developing countries could just announce to raise OCF by X abovethe level of year Y (while not lowering oreven increasing ODA), which can easilybe monitored. While diversion of ODA toOCF can not totally be ruled out, at leastit could be guaranteed that climate fundsare not double counted as both climatenance and development assistance.

Three critical issues with OCF exist:acceptability by the North, integration ofclimate and development and governance.First, the concept of OCF is not appealing

to industrialized countries.However, when including loans andprivate nance sub-categories of OCF

which could be dened and raise interest

in the North, where the power to denewhich ows are to be called OCF or ODA.

Axel Michaelowais Head of the International Climate Policy

group at the Center for International and

Comparative Studies, ETH and Universityof Zurich, and Senior Founding Partner atPerspectives.

Second, the division of ODA and OCF maycould dispute the argument that climatechange and development programmesand plans should be integrated, to seizeco-benets and avoid trade-offs. However,

accounting OCF and ODA separatelydoes not mean that both funds can not beintegrated in the same programs. Indeed,

they should be integrated, while the goalsof the two currencies climate change

and development are clearly separated,which may also allow for a more efcient

assessment of the goal achievement.

Third, regarding governance, it may beeasiest to assign the OECD the taskto register OCF, as it can easily avoidoverlaps with ODA. However, this mayundermine the role of the UN and theinclusion of developing countries ingovernance of OCF. Therefore, either theUNFCCC should assign accounting OCFto the OECD (while giving clear guidance)or a well elaborated administrative link

between ODA accounting at the OECDand OCF accounting at the UNFCCC hasto be established.

In conclusion the emerging messy picture

of climate nance calls for a well elaboratedMRV framework, including both denitions

of what climate nance encompasses as

well as a clear baseline above which fundsare to be considered new and additional.

As this is an almost insurmountablechallenge, we propose a new currency:Ofcial Climate Finance, which is clearly

separated from ODA. It has the benets of

avoiding double counting of funds, beingtransparent on the goals of funding, andenabling a straightforward assessment ofnew and additional.

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The Challenge is

not Adapting to a

Liveable World!

The focus of our challenge on earthshould not be diluted or divertedtowards merely adapting to a livea-

ble world. Even in a world with increasedtemperature, the future human genera-tions should be able to nd wellbeing and

happiness. The adaptation challenge isnot to compromise on a liveable world butto take necessary action to create prospe-rity in a changing climate on earth.

The danger of the compromised approachsuggests that we humans will suffer in a2C plus temperature rise. Humans haveshown their resilience throughout historyand should be able to make a warmerworld into a happy planet. But that is onlyif we all can agree to give away with thecurrent system that promotes consumeristlifestyles that may take us beyond a 4Crise in heat that is not even suited for hu-man habitation.

The problem lay within our inherited worldof false ideals that we keep on passing to

our future generations. We have been toldthat capacity building in life is for higherincome and acquisitions, and that develo-pment would mean commitment to achie-ve such materialistic targets. Only a fewnations on earth have experienced deve-lopment in the market economy based de-velopment approach.

For the past many decades we have beentold that some countries are developedand that some are developing. I have

waited over four decades to understanddevelopment as it has never reached

my country - Sri Lanka. Then I meet somany people from the branded developingcountries, while travelling across the worldand at conferences, and they too do notseem to have a clear idea and do appearto struggle as much as I do.

I also associate a lot of people from the

categorized developed countries, andthey do not seem to have found conten-tment or happiness in the development gi-ven to them. While they have already hadtheir higher incomes and acquisitions, it is

puzzling to see why they are not contentand happy in life. Now that the French andBritish governments have understood thatthe GDP based economic growth appro-ach does not reect the nations prosperity

in the wellbeing of their citizens, perhapsthe UN and USA can start appreciatingthose smaller Southern nations who havebeen rebelling to retain their sufciency

pathways to prosperity approach.

In these times of change, greening the

existing industrial production system willnot help green the economy and achie-ve climate sustainability. It will not take

us towards a carbon neutral society anddrive us away from the wasteful lifestyles.A new green world order has to be moreauthentic than making mountains of the

green labelling and green procurementbusinesses.

Such a new world order will have to makesufciency based considerations more per-tinent. Sufciency can rstly reduce greed

and want for over-consumption through astate of adequacy and contentment. It can

also innovate on indigenous knowledgesystems to produce without waste, moreefciently, become more self-reliant, and

less dependent on external resources.

The national economic crisis in 1997 is

what led the King of Thailand to ofciallypronounce a philosophy of the sufciency

economy as the way forward in that coun-try. Subsequently the Ninth National Eco-nomic and Social Development Plan from2002 to 2006 in the county, adopted suf-

ciency economy as their economic policyand explained that its goals are to achievesustainable development and proper well-being for Thai people. It is a balanced

development which took into account theeconomy, society, politics, and environ-ment, aiming to make people in the socie-ty happy, self-reliant, and abreast with theworld, while still preserving the Thai natio-nal identity.Just like in Thailand, many smaller na-tions believe in sufciency as the way to

national prosperity and wellbeing of theirpeople and are involuntarily dragged intosuffering through a global economic andgovernance system that thinks otherwise.

Those who have dragged us towards astate of climate change that threatenshuman existence on earth are now tryingto discover a way for us to survive in a li-veable world. This cannot and should notbe the aspiration and determination of hu-mankind. That is a compromise that we,as a generation, are trying to make on the

lives of all future generations.

While enjoying the offerings on earth to-day, we are planning a world of lesser en- joyment for the future humans. If we are

only negotiating for a liveable world forour children and their children, then weare demonstrating intrinsically our selsh

nature as a generation and it is simplyghting to get the best share for oursel-ves. Climate change has also providedthe humans a historical opportunity to actas one species, and the act needs to bemindful this time.

Send your comments to:

[email protected] for more informationvisit:http://www.climatesustainabilitypla -tform.blogspot.com and http://climatesus-tainability.blogspot.com/)

By Uchita de Zoysa

Convenor Climate Sustainability PLATFORM

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Linking theRio Conventions

Riding the wave of success fromthe Convention on Biological Di-versities (CBD) Conference of the

Parties (COP) 10 held in Nagoya, Japan,the Rio Conventions Ecosystem Pavilionwas launched within the UNFCCC fora at

COP 16 in Cancun. The aim of the pla-tform is to enable a collaborative outreachfocus, aided by the Global EnvironmentFacility (GEF) and Lifeweb.

The Pavilion has been mandated bythe three Rio Conventions (UNCCD,UNFCCC and CBD) as a platform to raiseawareness, share ndings and ensure co-

operation. The inter-linkages between thethree conventions focus on the intrinsicrelationships between land degradationand desertication, climate change and

biodiversity protection.

Multiple challenges and opportunities forcollaboration between land managersand areas of biodiversity exist and mustbe capitalised on, especially in line withthe predicted impacts of climate change.As the Pavilion rightly highlights, theresponses to this plethora of globalenvironmental challenges will dene the

21st century.

Nagoya was a success as sovereigncompromises were made and the processwas driven by a strong desire within theparties to achieve success combined withexcellent political leadership and facilitationby Japan. The outcomes have re-energisedthe global environmental governancearena and proved multilateralism can beeffective. In this manner, and in line with

the ambitious targets agreed upon underthe Aichi target (both short term themission and long term the vision), thegains need to be seen as a dual successfor all the Rio Conventions, rather than anexplicit gain for the CBD and biodiversityarena.

The Aichi Target for 2050 calls forunfaltering action to half the loss ofbiodiversity, this in itself needs toprovide huge momentum going into2011 when Forestry takes the limelightfrom Biodiversity and the UNFCCC will

By Sabrina Chesterman

Climate Scientist atOneWorld Sustainable Investments

The launch of the Ecosystems

Pavilion at COP 16

need to guide the plight and fundamentalimportance of forests linking to thethree Rio conventions, exactly what theEcosystems Pavilion is hoping to ag.

This focus on synergistic activities likeecosystem based adaptation needs to

be readily embraced by the UNFCCC,as they provide rare win win yetplausible scenarios for both ensuring vitalecosystem service ows in addition to

aiding the abatement of climate change.The launch of the International Panel on

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services(IPBES) provides further momentum in

biodiversity protection, and dual activitiesacross the conventions as IPBES, likethe IPCC galvanises dynamic and world

class scientic assessment, however

focused on the issues of biodiversity andecosystem services.

As well as a scientic progression Nagoya

was historic in its formal adoption of theSatoyama Initiative. The decision regarding

the Sustainable use of Biodiversityacknowledges the Satayoma initiative asa tool to better support anthropogenicallyimpacted natural environments to moreeffectively ensure co-benets for both

biodiversity and livelihood well being.This political embrace of such an initiativeillustrates the fundamental importanceof national scale land management, and

the commitment of the relevant parties tosupport initiatives linked to sustainablesocio-ecological production landscapes.

This positive move is further validatedby the Global Biodiversity Outlook 3s(2010) conclusions, which evaluateclimate change is of equal importance to

abating biodiversity loss, in terms of globalenvironmental challenges. The GlobalBiodiversity Outlook concluded that theissues of biodiversity loss and climatechange should be addressed concurrentlyand in tandem, focusing on;

1. Reducing the loss of ecosystems ableto sequester signicant amounts of carbon

for example peat bogs, salt marches andtropical rainforests2.Reducing external stressors on

ecosystems which make them vulnerableIn addition to the GBO, The Economics

of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)reports provide an economic foundation toendorse the policy incentive for biodiversityprotection. Four key issues TEEB

ags of particular importance which theEcosystems Pavilion should seek to nd

synergies between the three conventionsgovernance focus, include;

1.The Coral reef emergency a lossvalued at between US$ 30 170 billionper year2.Tropical forest carbon mitigationneeds to be capitalised on to provide anoperational model for the development ofnancial mechanisms which would reward

other services3. National accounting for forest carbonneeds to be an urgent focus to implementreliable systems of measuring andaccounting for carbon storage andsequestration

4.Ecosystem investment for climateadaptation, linking in the theme ofecosystem based adaptation, communityinitiatives and the need to urgently upscalethe investment in ecosystemsThere are a multitude of overlaps betweenthe three conventions but particularareas to focus on which capitalize onthe mandate of the three conventions

includes the interaction between theoceans and climate change, protectedarea management and poverty alleviationand human linkages to dry and sub-humidareas.The three conventions facilitated by theEcosystems Pavilion need to rapidlydevelop robust co-operation and co-ordination channels to ensure a ow

of technical and policy processes andachieve economies of scale and multiplebenets of a greater magnitude as a

consequence of co-operation. At the local

scale there is no distinction between thethree conventions and their mandatesas is made at the regional and nationallevel, and its this local unied view of the

Conventions that needs to be cemented atthe conclusion of COP 16.

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Global UN Commitments,

Resolutions and other

Intergovernmental Outcomes

Linking Gender Equality,

Climate Change andSustainable Development

By Women Watch

Ing1992, more than 100 Heads of Sta-tes met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil forthe rst International Earth Summit

convened to address urgent problems ofenvironmental protection and sustainabledevelopment. The assembled leaders sig-ned the United Nations Framework Con-vention on Climate Change and the Con-vention on Biological Diversity, endorsedthe Rio Declaration and the Forest Princi-ples, and adopted Agenda 21, a 300 pageplan for achieving sustainable develop-ment in the 21st century. More informa-tion: http://www.un.org/esa/earthsummit/

The countries which signed the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Cli-mate Change (UNFCC) committed to n-ding ways to reduce global warming and

to cope with its effect on the environmentand populations. With 192 State Parties,the Convention enjoys universal member-ship. The Convention is complementedby the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, to which 184State Parties have entered into force (viaeither ratication, acceptance, approval or

accession) since January 2009. Under thistreaty, 37 industrialized countries and theEuropean Community have committed toreducing their 1990 level of emissions byan average of 5 percent by 2012. A majordistinction between the Protocol and theConvention is that, while the Convention

encouraged industrialized countries tostabilize green-house gas (GHG) emis-sions, the Protocol commits them to doso. More information: http://unfccc.int/essential_background/items/2877.php

The United Nations Climate Change Con-ference in Bali in December 2007 calledfor further commitment to address climatechange; and led to the Bali Action Plan tosupport the negotiation process towardsthe achievement of a comprehensive glo-bal agreement by the end of 2009. TheBali Action Plan reafrmed that effectively

addressing climate change requires miti-gation and adaptation strategies as wellas technology transfer and nancing.

Although the UNFCCC does not addressgender equality, there are numerous global

commitments and agreements that makethe linkage between gender equality andclimate change. The International Con-ference on Population and Development(1994), the Beijing Declaration and Pla-tform for Action (1995), the World Summiton Sustainable Development (2002), andthe 2005 World Summit all acknowledgedthe pivotal role women play in sustainabledevelopment.

The Convention to Combat Desertication

which, as of March 2008 had 193 StateParties, recognizes the role played bywomen in regions of desertication and

drought, particularly in rural areas of de-veloping countries. It calls for its Member

States to promote womens participation indecision-making policies and programmes

that address desertication and drought.More information: http://www.unccd.int/convention/ratif/doeif.php

In addition, the 1979 Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of Discriminationagainst Women (CEDAW) states that Par-ties shall take all appropriate measures toeliminate discrimination against women inthe political and public life, and to ensure

that women are on equal terms with men in

both Governmental and Non-governmen-tal organizations and in regards to the de-velopment and implementation of policy. In

addition, CEDAW emphasizes the uniquechallenges for rural women and the needto ensure the application of these measu-res in rural areas. For example, CEDAWcalls for access to agricultural credit andloans, marketing facilities, appropriate te-chnology and equal treatment in land and

agrarian reform as well as in land resett-lement schemes [Article 14.2 (g)] and toadequate living conditions, including ade-quate sanitation and water supply [Article

14.2 (h)]. In 2009, the CEDAW Committee

issued a statement on Gender and Clima-te Change, expressing concern about the

absence of a gender perspective in theUnited Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change (UNFCCC) and otherglobal and national policies and initiativeson climate change; and calling on StatesParties to include gender equality as an

overarching guiding principle in the UN-FCCC agreement expected at the 15thConference of Parties in Copenhagen.http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/ce-daw/docs/Gender_and_climate_change.pdf

In 2002, the Commission on the Status of

Women considered the issue of climatechange at its 46th session. The agreedconclusions on Environmental manage-ment and the mitigation of natural disas-ters adopted by the Commission called

for action to mainstream a gender pers-pective into ongoing research on the im-pacts and causes of climate change, andto encourage the application of results ofthis research in policies and programmes.The Commission on the Status of Women

considered climate change as an emer-ging issue in its 52nd session in 2008.Participants drew attention to the fact thatclimate change is not a gender-neutralphenomenon, stressing that it has a di-rect impact on womens lives due to theirdomestic work and makes their everydaysustenance even more difcult. The Com-mission called for efforts on nancing for

gender equality and the empowerment of

women, specically referring to the impact

of climate change on women and girls.Furthermore, it called for governments to:integrate a gender perspective into the de-

sign, implementation, monitoring, evalua-tion and reporting of national environmen-tal policies; to strengthen mechanisms;and to provide adequate resources to en-sure womens full and equal participation

in decision-making at all levels on environ-mental issues, particularly on strategiesrelated to the impact of climate change onthe lives of women and girls

This article was originally published onhttp://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/

climate_change Please refer to Women

Watch for more information.

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The China-U.S. Youth Climate Ex-change held its rst workshop to-

day at the Climate Change Village;the rst brick of a foundation that theyre

laying for stronger Sino-American coope-ration on climate and energy solutions.

Recognizing the critical role China and theUnited States share in solving the climatecrisis, the groups primary goal is to edu-cate young people about the intricacies ofSino-American climate diplomacy and ul-timately to show a way forward based onmutual understanding and respect for thetwo cultures

Were showing how the U.S. and Chinacan work together, said Michael David-son, an organizer of the China-U.S. YouthClimate Exchange and member of theSustainUS delegation. Our values areas disparate as our leaders, but the youth

can work together and nd solutions in

commonalities despite these differences.

The organizers hail from seven youth or-ganizations and one nonprot organiza-tion focused on U.S.-China relations: Chi-na Youth Climate Action Network, PekingUniversity CDM Club, Tsinghua GreenStudent Association, China Dialogue, Sie-rra Student Coalition, SustainUS, CascadeClimate Network and Golden Bridges.

In the midst of the greatest challenge fa-cing our generation, we believe it is ourresponsibility as future leaders to esta-blish this dialogue now, said Jared Schy,

an organizer of the exchange and member

of the Cascade Climate Network, a U.S.-based youth advocacy organization.The rst workshop, Hello, Nihao, and the

Road Forward, was held yesterday, at

the Climate Change Village. Holly Chang

of Golden Bridges led with the pressing

need to create solutions for a shared sus-tainable future.

Chinese and American participants welco-med the opportunity to discuss the goodfortune that brought them together today

and their shared passion for counteringglobal climate change. The event wasalso a learning experience: Schy surpri-sed the Chinese youth when he describedthe complexities of the American lobbyingsystem.

The workshop concluded with an openspace, setting the agenda for the next

two weeks of the UN climate talks. Par-

ticipating youth hailing from several orga-nizations of both countries paired off andcommitted to regroup several times duringthe negotiations.

Chinese-U.S. Youth Launch Climate

Solutions Exchange in Cancun

By the China-U.S. Youth Climate Exchange

Youth listened to strategies for broader

China-U.S. climate collaboration today atthe Climate Change Village in Cancun.

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Organizers will coordinate other works-hops reuniting the youth, as well as a sha-red action, a bilingual blog and a diplo-macy dinner.

The shared action will be highly visual andunderscore the need for more investmentin clean energy systems in China and theUnited States.

The joint blog, China-U.S. Youth ClimateDialogue, at chinausyouthclimate.weebly.

com, will feature posts on team membersaccounts of the negotiations and expe-

riences working together. Posts will betranslated into English and Chinese.

We are demonstrating an innovativemodel of cooperation on climate changeto our governments, said Yiting Wang of

China Youth Climate Action Network. In

doing so, we hope to induce more coo-

peration between our governments andmore aggressive action in creating andtaking leadership on climate and energysolutions.

Together with several of her fellow Chi-nese organizers, Wang was involved inthe Sino-American workshop put on bythe Chinese Youth Delegation during lastyears UN climate talks in Copenhagen. AlGore praised the workshop, Our SharedFuture: Hello, Nihao, as a model for the

two countries leaders.

Other collaboration events:The second workshop, Reecting and

Future Collaboration will be held at 7 p.m.

at the Climate Change Village Thursday,

Dec. 8, where industry experts, govern-

ment ofcials and NGO advocates are

invited to sit with participants. For moreinformation, contact Jared Schy at schy.

[email protected].

We are

demonstrating

an innovative

model of

cooperationon climate

change to our

governments.

The collaboration begins in Cancun, butits just the beginning, organizers say.Through these joint activities, U.S. andChinese youth hope that the exchange willstrengthen trust between the two coun-tries and establish long-term relationshipsfounded on friendship and mutual culturalunderstanding.

Nationality:FrenchCountry of residence: FinlandOrganisation: Youth Constituency at the UNFCCC

Current Position:

Focal Point to the UNFCCC Secretariat

How long have you been in this position? 1 year

ProleSbastien Duyck

What prompted your early interest in

environment?My interest in environmental matters hasresulted from the education that I received

and the weekend spent outdoors with myparents, as I was younger.

Describe your rst attempt to save the

planet:

Since the age of 12, I used to gather the

kids from my neighbourhood each springto collect all the rubbish, which could befound in the forests and green areas inwhich we would spend the whole summerplaying.

Favourite quote:

Its not too late at all. You just dont yet

know what you are capable of. M. Gandhi

What jobs have you held that have led

to the role you are in today?

Being a facilitator of the youth constituen-cy is a volunteering function. What hascontributed the most to my path towardsthis function are more the dedicated andpassionate young activists that I met in the

past years than any practical experienceor job.

What do you believe should be achie-ved at COP16?

If this COP restores trust in the process in

ensuring that concrete steps are taken tomove forward towards a more ambitiousregime, showing that no single countrycan prevent the international communi-

ty from taking the needed decision, thenthis COP will have put us back on the righttrack.

What do you consider the most signi-cant hurdle to achieving an interna-

tional agreement to succeed the Kyoto

Protocol?

I believe that what is lacking the most at

the moment is the presence of a groupof countries demonstrating that there aremore opportunities than drawbacks incommitting to a pathway that does not en-dangered the survival of other countriesand future generations. Too few countriesare currently showing such leadership.Our role as civil society is to encourageour decision makers to acknowledge this.

What timeline is reasonable for an in-ternational agreement to be achieved?

And what should this look like?

The more we wait, the larger the gap bet-ween political realism and scientic ne-cessity becomes. We need to achieve afair, ambitious and binding treaty in SouthAfrica next year, as a rst step towards a

paradigm shift.

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Alothas happened since we all leftCopenhagen. January and Februaryseemed to be full of conversations

around coffee bars and meeting rooms atthe UN; Was this the end of the UN as amajor multilateral forum?

The previous year had seen the G20 withincreased prominence and seeminglysuccessful activities on the globaleconomy. It seemed to offer an alternative

to that messy and unwieldy approach tocoming to an agreement with everyone.Why dont the important players just gettogether and sort it out and then the rest ofus can fall in line.

The emergence of the BASIC group as

a signicant player offered to bring to the

table the key G77 countries. South Africanow a member of OECD, the old orderseemed to be changing and maybe theway we do things needed too.

By May, some enthusiasm had returnedaround Rio+20 as people got to start to

think what a processes around the greeneconomy in the context of sustainabledevelopment and poverty eradicationmight look like. In fact, if you could change

some of the key economic drivers thenthere would be a great contribution to anyfuture targets but more importantly movingthe economy in a green direction wouldhave a lot of the impacts that we had allhoped for in Rio in 1992.

Much of the delivery of climate change willbe through changing the economic driversin the different sectors. In the last thirty

years, we have seen the planets economicsystems driven by irresponsible capitalism

plundering the natural resources andpolluting as if there is no time of reckoning.Like the nancial crisis we have privatized

the gains and socialized the losses and

Multilateralism

our children will have to pick up the costs.WWF believe that if we all consume like thedeveloped countries, we will need threeplanets by 2030, twenty years from now.The Green economy discussion, for all itsimperfect denitions, offers the chance to

address the drivers to help see a movetowards a more sustainable planet.

A new Rio+20 Green Economy Agenda21 document should build on the relevantsectoral chapters of Agenda 21 and theJPOI but also look at how they contribute

to contribute to:

Poverty eradication

Employment generation

The decoupling growth from pollution

How to address sustainable production

and consumption

As the challenges are getting biggerwe need a real stock taking of presentinstitutions and if they are not up to the jobof addressing todays challenges createstrong and robust international institutions

that can cope with the challenges aheadin an equitable and fair way.

The work by Johan Rockstrom on PlanetaryBoundaries in 2009 is an importantcontribution to helping us understandhow close or how far exceeding thoseboundaries we are. The biggest being theextinction rate of biodiversity. The OctoberConvention on Biological Diversity wouldbe critical as it would be dealing with apossible new protocol on Access andBenet Sharing.

Maybe the lack of media coverage or thelack of Heads of State going gave themeeting the space to focus on the realthings that needed to be done. Of courseit was a late Saturday morning nish but

it demonstrated that 179 countries can

agreed to some very difcult decisions

together, and that it doesnt need a smallclub to dictate the way forward.

In addition to the protocol, they also adopted

a strategic plan for conservation and a dealto secure nancing for that plan by 2012

and 20 ambitious headline targets Weveovercome the curse of Copenhagen, said

The Nature Conservancys Andrew Deutz.Although the nancing will not kick in until

2012, the host country made a substantialpledge of $2 billion.

A lot of credit goes to the leadership ofthe Government of Japan, the ExecutiveSecretary of the CBD Ahmed Djoghlaf, butalso to those government, stakeholderswho didnt give up on multilateralism andshowed it can work and if to add to thatonly less than a week ago the Conventionon Migratory Species gave us anothersuccess with Tigers. Governments of 13countries where the worlds tigers still live,meeting in Russia endorsed a proposal tosave the big cats. They agreed on plans

intended to double the number of tigers by2022.

Achim Steiner, the Executive Director ofUNEP, underscored the challenge facing uswhen he said; The systematic destructionof the Earths natural and nature basedresources has reached a point where theeconomic viability of economies is beingchallenged - and where the bill we handto our children may prove impossible topay.

Can delegates rebuild trust and move

beyond national self interest?Maybe Cancun can take the rst steps

and Durban and Rio bring us closer to aroadmap which we can all together workon.

By Felix Dodds

Executive Director of StakeholderForum for a Sustainable Future

Works

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The Andean social management of natural resources

By Cindy Krose with Daniel Halem, Progressio

To view previous and todays issue of Outreach please go to www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach

OUTREACH is made possible through the generous support of:

Network of Regional GovernmentsforSustainable Development

The Department of the Environment, Heritageand Local Government, Ireland

Every year the villagers of Tupico-cha gather for an annual WaterHarvesting Feast a celebration to

inaugurate the water harvesting practiceknown by the locals as Amunas. Waterharvesting techniques were once wides-pread in the Andean highlands, togetherwith other pre-Hispanic techniques to sto-re, capture, conduct and distribute water.Nowadays most of these practices go un-noticed or have even disappeared.

The ceremony takes place at 4500mup in the Andes. The president of thecommunity designates four participantswho will embody the protectors of thewater: the local deities Tayta Pingollo(Water, represented by a skull) and MamaCapiana (Mother Earth). Once named, thefour Huares transform themselves into theprotectors of the waters. Then, followingthe course of the canal, they return to usto the sound of the tinya (small drum) andwakrapuco (bull horn trumpet). They eachhold one corner of the ritual cloth on whichthey carry the offerings and the skull ofTayta Pingollo.

After the celebration the communitymembers pick up their shovels and headtowards the Acequias Amuneras, special

canals made of rocks and soil, to cleanand restore them. They use these canalsto redirect water from the river duringthe rainy season to specic places in the

mountain where the structure of the rocksand the soil allow a natural absorption ofthe water to recharge the aquifers. The

canals give the local population wateryear-round.

The water recharge also helps to reduceerosion of the slopes and contributes tothe conservation of the existing vegetation.Even thought they dating from pre-Hispanic times, thanks to the collectiveefforts of the community members who

spend hours shovelling stones and soil,the canals can still be used today.

Andean communities have always beenfaced with tremendous climatic extremes.On top of this Peru is one of the mostvulnerable countries when it comes toclimate change, especially the ruralpopulation who are experiencing moredroughts, oods, hailstorms and other

unpredictable weather events than ever.

However, over the years, the peoplesunderstanding of the water cycle andthe mountains as reected in the water

harvesting practice of the Tupicochans has proven effective in reducing thevulnerability of Andean communitiesto climatic extremes on the long term.National and international initiativesseeking to promote adaptation to climatechange should take these ancestralpractices into account, but often dont.

Understanding the Andean socialmanagement of natural resources helpsus realise that the process of adaptationto climate change and prevention ofwater scarcity will not just dependon the construction of sophisticatedinfrastructures and transfer of specialisedknowledge. It also entails a long term

relationship with the natural environmentin a social and cultural context that givesmeaning to the protection of these naturalresources.

Progressioworks with partner organisa-

tions to learn more about ancestral naturalresource management systems and pro-

mote these sustainable and effective ways

of adapting to climate change ways that

could be replicated and adapted to other

localities of Peru and the world.

outreach 03

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