17 December 2007 - WWF's response to Bali
15 December 2007 - Bali launches climate negotiations, weak on substance
13 December 2007 - Will the US derail Bali talks?
10 December 2007 - Vision of emerging economies
7 December 2007 - A gathering storm...
5 December 2007 - World wakes up
4 December 2007 - WWF calls for ambitious roadmap
3 December 2007 - Bali: Critical climate change summit

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WWF's response to Bali

Keith Allot, Head of Climate Change, WWF-UK comments on the outcome of the talks in Bali

"It's not the end of the line and there will still be a lot of work needed in order to get firm caps put in place at Copenhagen in 2009, but everyone who has ratified the Kyoto deal are clearly showing that they recognise what is required of them, that they are listening to the science and that they understand what they need to do in the years after Kyoto.

It's an extremely positive indication of what the world is capable of doing when the Bush administration is removed from the table. It's an inspiration for leading the roadmap forward and shows that if we all stand together - the progressive rich nations, shoulder to shoulder with the developing countries and the emerging giants of China and India - that we can make the important decisions that need to be made."


Bali launches climate negotiations, weak on substance
Political leaders meeting in Bali for the UN's Climate Change Summit hammered out a deal which launches formal negotiations with a 2009 end date, but the deal falls short in its ambition.

Governments gathered in Bali for the most important climate talks in a decade to put on track a future treaty that would cut developed countries' emissions 25% to 40% below 1990 levels by 2020. The findings of the IPCC's 4th Assessment Report, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year, shows clearly that to keep the world below 2°C warming compared with pre-industrial times, global emissions need to peak and decline before 2020.

During an emotional showdown in the final hours of the 15-day meeting, the US delegation, under intense public pressure, decided to join in the global talks. The price of US participation, however, was a deal weak on substance.

"The US administration was asked to get out of the way, and in the end they bowed to pressure," says Hans Verolme, Director of WWF's Global Climate Change Programme. "The Bali Roadmap leaves a seat at the table for the next US president to make a real contribution to the global fight to stop dangerous climate change."

Over the next two years, industrialized countries need to agree to deep emission cuts, and to leverage new funding and support for technology transfer, finance and adaptation. The EU and leading developing countries such as Brazil, China and South Africa will have to propose a workplan for this two-year negotiation marathon. These talks will have to make up for Bali's shortcomings.

On some of the practical building blocks of a future climate change regime, good progress has been made: technology transfer has been given appropriate attention, including technologies for mitigation and adaptation as well as financial incentives. The Adaptation Fund has finally been implemented but additional financing and technical support for the poorest countries will have to be created.

The commitment to address tropical deforestation, also known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), is another building block in the Bali Roadmap. Governments have recognized that 20% of emissions are from forest loss, and they now have two years to nail down the rules on how REDD will be implemented.

"A strong, well-funded REDD mechanism will enable tropical forest countries to develop their economies without destroying their forests. In doing so, they will make a real contribution to mitigating global climate change," says Rodney Taylor, Director of WWF's Global Forest Programme. "The mechanism must include safeguards to ensure that REDD projects benefit forest-dependent people and conserve biodiversity."

13 December 2007 - Will the US derail Bali talks?

WWF warns that the US government could push the Bali climate negotiations to the brink of failure.

"At the eleventh hour the US has submitted a proposal that is the equivalent of taking no action at all against climate change," said WWF International Director General, James Leape.

"This proposal would ruin the international effort towards halting climate change and put the future of our planet at risk," he explained.

US officals are proposing a rewording of commitments at the Bali meeting; their proposal means replacing text calling for developed nations to consider specific, internationally binding, quantified reduction commitments, with text that calls upon countries to adopt any measures they deem appropriate.

More than 50 members of the US Congress from both parties wrote to President Bush urging him to change his approach and instead play a constructive role in bringing these negotiations to a productive close.

"The Bush administration has a moral obligation to make commitments that are commensurate with their contribution to the climate crisis," said WWF Global Climate Change Director, Hans Verolme.

"The US government, aided by a small group of nations including Canada and Japan, has over the last few days thrown up several roadblocks in the negotiations. We are pleased that several large emerging economies, including China, Brazil, and South Africa, are still showing flexibility and creativity in their contributions to the Bali negotiations," added Verolme.

"That is the same spirit one would hope we could expect from the US. With these actions, the US jeopardizes the agreements that have already been reached on deforestation, technology and adaptation," he concluded.



12 December 2007 - Decisions lacking at Bali

Kit Vaughan, Climate Change Adaptation Advisor at WWF-UK and Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change at WWF-UK report from Bali.

The Bali conference - so critical to ensuring a new global deal to protect the climate - has only two days to run and the time left to deliver the breakthrough the world needs.

Ministers from around the world arrived at the start of this week.

WWF hopes that high level political negotiations can break through some of the barriers that have thus far held back progress.

We've been meeting with ministers and senior officials from many delegations.

Chief Executive of WWF International, Jim Leape, has also joined us for the second week, and has been actively supporting our efforts to engage governments at the highest level.

UN head urges 2009 climate treaty
Ministers are also making speeches to the Conference. Today, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world to agree to work out a new climate treaty by 2009.

"Climate change is the defining challenge of our age," he said. "The science is clear; climate change is happening, the impact is real. The time to act is now."

Be the first
Meanwhile, in his address to the conference, Hilary Benn stressed the UK's support for keeping global warming below 2ºC and for rich countries to take the lead - citing the UK Climate Change Bill as a 'unique' example of leadership.

"Climate change is the ultimate expression of our interdependence as human beings," said Benn.

He warned that an 'after you' approach, which has characterised climate negotiations for so long, "will destroy all of us".

Brits holding back
The UK and EU are among the more progressive governments here, and WWF understands that these representatives are working hard to achieve a positive outcome.

However, sometimes it seems that British diplomacy can be a little too tactful and polite.

Germany says it straight
German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel received an ovation for his challenging rebuke to the US's position in the talks.

"I do not need a paper from Bali in which we only say 'OK, we'll meet again next year again'," he said.

He urged decisiveness. "How can we find a roadmap without having a target, without having a goal?" he questioned.

Emerging economies want commitment from rich
The good news here is that some of the big emerging economies like China, Brazil and South Africa are clearly prepared to engage and open talks about how to continue to develop, with a lower carbon impact.

However, they are still looking for the rich nations to show that they are serious, by committing to reduce emissions 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020, as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. China is also looking for a framework that will give it much greater access to clean technologies.

US and Canada stalling
However, the US, Canada and several other countries have been undermining and blocking progress on these key issues, as well as on other important elements of the negotiations.

The US Bush administration is blocking progress on technology transfer - and appears to be trying to stall the UN process in favour of a continuation of what is generally accepted as its weak and ineffective 'Major Economies Meeting' process.

Canada has argued that it will only take on absolute emission reduction targets if developing countries do so - neglecting to mention the fact that Canada's per capita emissions are about 18 times higher than India's and 6.5 times higher than China's.

Fossil of the Day award for blockers
This sort of behaviour has helped Canada and the US to storm ahead in the Fossil of the day awards, presented by NGOs to the countries which have done most to delay the negotiations.

Negotiations expected past closing
In these last few days, The WWF team is tired, but gearing up for the final push to the finish line. All of the key elements of a deal are still in play, and an ambitious outcome is within reach - but it will require a huge effort. We are confidently expecting the conference to run past its official closing time on Friday and on in to Saturday morning - but the prospect of a long and stressful night's negotiations will be more than worth it if Bali delivers a clear and ambitious outcome.


10 December 2007 - Vision of emerging economies

WWF has welcomed the vision of many developing countries on how to tackle climate change at this week's Bali summit.

"A group of major emerging economies including China, South Africa, and Brazil showed clarity of vision this week and made concrete proposals to tackle technology transfer by proposing a platform for public-private partnerships for technology cooperation," said Hans Verolme, Director of WWF's Global Climate Change Programme.

But the preparedness to engage has not been matched by all, with Saudi Arabia and Malaysia steadfastly opposing most carbon cutting measures.

EU steadfast but Canada waivers
The EU is expected to adhere to cutting emissions by up to 30% by 2020.
However, the Canadian government notably refused to recognize the obligations of industrialized countries, implying that developing countries hold equal responsibility.

WWF is now urging industrialized countries to engage with the developing countries supporting controlling climate change.

Confirmation on reductions needed
Nation leaders need to confirm the target range of reducing emissions from industrialised countries while developing countries need to decide on the financing of new, cleaner technologies.

Also, the Adaptation Fund needs to be agreed on by all nations for the benefit of financing the least developed countries.

Negotiations need strong leadership
The Indonesia Presidency of the conference faces a challenge, to transform the positive atmosphere into real ambition. This ambition must be strong enough to drive negotiations in the second week.

"We may be getting closer to a decision to Bali Mandate, but we are still far removed from a political deal towards deep cuts in carbon emissions," added Verolme.

"But we still need to agree the goal for this negotiation that is coherent with what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tells us needs to be done to avoid dangerous climate change," he concluded.

WWF's Beginners Guide to the UN Climate Talks, can be downloaded from http://www.panda.org/climate.


7 December 2007 - A gathering storm...

The rainy season in Bali normally starts in November – but so far there has been little sign of the usual downpours. An early sign of climate change perhaps?

Whatever the reason, as the cloud cover swells overhead, there is a growing sense of expectation on the ground, and the weather is continuing to neatly mirror the current state of the climate talks.

As the first week of the conference draws to a close, the negotiations are splitting up and forming complex strands of dialogue, which are often carried out behind closed doors. As a result, the hotels and corridors are full of people frantically running around between meeting rooms, normally juggling two or three mobile phones, listening to the latest updates on decisions and sticking points and then sharing them with the rest of the team. And at WWF it is a truly international effort – with team members from key countries such as India, Australia, China, Brazil, the US, the EU and some of the most vulnerable developing countries including Fiji and Nepal, all working together.

So far some of the best progress at the conference has been made in complex areas, such as ways to encourage the transfer of clean technologies – renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power for example – to developing countries. These developing countries are also looking towards the world's richer nations to take a clear lead by agreeing to significant emission cuts and by pledging to help the poorest countries to cope with the impacts of climate change. But while China and some of the other developing nations have shown a real willingness to engage in discussions, many of the richer countries are keeping their cards close to their chest and it seems that ultimately, the biggest missing ingredient is trust. Building that up will require real leadership from countries like the UK, but unfortunately some other rich countries – notably Canada, Japan and the US – are thus far playing a pretty unconstructive role.

The WWF climate team is working hard to follow the process as it unfolds, to understand the evolving positions and tactics and to lobby for effective outcomes. We've already met with a range of officials from the UK government and other countries, and will continue to push our case as the second week commences.

Next week's discussions look set to move up a gear, as ministers arrive for the 'high-level' segment. Notable visitors look set to include Al Gore, Sir Nicholas Stern, US Senator John Kerry, and Kevin Rudd – the new Prime Minister of Australia who last week gave the talks a much-needed boost with his decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. No sign yet of Leonardo DiCaprio or Arnold Schwarzenegger, despite the rumours.

UK Environment Secretary Hilary Benn will arrive on Monday evening, and WWF-UK is hoping he will make a clear and strong call for all developed nations to reduce their emissions by 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020 – a necessary cut to help us stay below the critical threshold of 2°C warming. We're also crossing our fingers for a surprise announcement of an 80% target in the UK's Climate Change Bill, which would be a true sign of leadership, but we won't be holding our breath.



5 December 2007 - World wakes up

Kit Vaughan, Adaptation Policy Advisor, WWF-UK, reports back from Bali Climate Change Summit

After months of planning, the Bali UN conference on climate change is finally underway.

More than ten thousand government and NGO delegates are flocking to the island and 2007 can truly be hailed as the year that the world finally woke up to global warming.

Jackets off, but heat is on
With talk focussing upon the earth's rising temperatures, it seemed only appropriate that in a concession to the searing Bali sunshine, the UN has relaxed its dress code and allowed delegates to leave their jackets behind.

But there were still more than enough reasons for participants to sweat, as the UN has already hammered home the urgency of the situation facing us.

According to UN scientists, we're already experiencing climate change's impacts in the form of glacial melting and sea level rise, and further warming could lead to a minimum of 25% of global species facing the risk of extinction and to hundreds of millions of climate refugees losing their homes and livelihoods.

UN adaptation fund pools cash
So while we all recognise that climate change is happening - and that a solution to the problem is possible - getting the world's governments to demonstrate their commitment by making the real changes necessary is a key concern for the conference.

Generally the mood is a positive one. There seem to be a series of possible early wins, including the potential finalization of the UN adaptation fund, a pool of money that could provide vital financial aid to the world's poorest countries as they adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Stop deforestation
There is the need for us to stop the release of carbon from deforestation.

This currently accounts for about 18% of global carbon emissions. There is also a real desire from the world's poorest and most vulnerable countries to make a serious commitment towards stopping the destruction of rainforests.

Australia applauded
But by far the most cheerful development has been the Australian announcement that they are finally going to ratify the Kyoto-Protocol, a move that has earned them honest standing ovations from all the nations and NGOs gathered here.

A pretty promising start then.

We have high hopes and expectations for strong political leadership and a commitment to change.

We'll just have to wait and see how things develop throughout the conference. Watch this space …


4 December 2007 - WWF calls for ambitious roadmap

WWF is urging global leaders to formulate a new comprehensive and ambitious plan to avoid dangerous climate change at the UN Climate Summit in Bali this week. Bali must launch tough negotiations to deliver a new global agreement at Copenhagen in 2009 - a deal has to be reached then to make sure there is no gap after the first commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol ends.

Scientists agree that global efforts to combat climate change need to be much more stringent and effective, advising that CO2 emissions need to peak and start to fall well before 2020.

Planning for change
WWF is looking to the Bali summit to provide a clear mandate or "roadmap" to deliver a new agreement in 2009. We are also looking to world leaders to show that they have heeded the clear warning from the world's scientists by setting out a shared vision for protecting the climate. WWF believes that to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, the increase in average global temperatures needs to be kept below 2C above pre-industrial levels.

WWF is calling for governments to formulate specific strategies for:

• Reducing emissions from developed countries by at least 30% by 2020, from a 1990 baseline
• Strengthening the carbon markets
• Helping developing countries to switch to low-carbon growth
• Adaptation (in both developing an developed countries)
• Control of deforestation
• Technology transfer
• Including emissions from aviation and shipping in a new agreement

Bali: hope for change
An urgent restructuring of our societies and economies is needed to move away from burning fossil fuels and consuming natural resources at an unsustainable and ever accelerating speed. At Bali the world's governments must show that they have heard the scientific warning - and commit to changing the way we use and waste our planet's natural resources.

Read WWF's full position statement on expectations for the UN Bali Climate Summit


3 December 2007 - Bali: Critical climate change summit
WWF is lobbying governments to take urgent action to tackle climate change at crucial international talks in Bali from 3-14 December this year.

"Bali is one of the most critical UN meetings on climate change to date," said Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change at WWF-UK.

World leaders will discuss plans for a new global strategy after 2012 when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol comes to an end.

"We need strong and unequivocal political leadership from world leaders to ensure a successful outcome which will avert catastrophic climate change," urged Allott.

Call for new strategies
WWF wants governments to agree a new strategy to control climate change which cuts global carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 and to increase funding to help less developed countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.

WWF believes any new deal must help expand the global carbon markets, which allow business and governments to trade in carbon emissions, and encourage investments in clean technologies such as renewable energy.

This month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned that we are all on the brink of committing the world to devastating climate change, with serious impacts already affecting the world's poorest people who have done least to cause the problem.