Why the Poznan conference is a disappointment

The Poznan conference on climate change ended on Saturday. Due to prepare the Copenhagen meeting – which will bring to light the successor of the Kyoto Protocol – it is a major disappointment.

Poor countries are the least satisfied with the results of the talks as developed nations are stepping back concerning the financial aides they first were willing to give.

Environmental NGOs like the WWF aren’t satisfied either and everybody is looking forward to knowing what the new US President will do on this very topic.

As Elizabeth Rosenthal noted in the International Herald Tribune :

Compared with last year’s climate negotiations – which ended with a representative from Papua New Guinea dramatically upbraiding the United States for its slow response – the talks here ended with a whimper.

The gathered nations, as had been anticipated, agreed on little more than a pledge to enter “full negotiating mode” to complete a new climate treaty within a year and a legal structure for a new global fund to help poor countries deal with the effects of changing climate patterns.

(…) It was announced that separate negotiations had failed to increase sources of funding to support poor countries in their quest to limit impacts from a changing climate.

Prodipto Ghosh of the Indian delegation berated wealthy countries for their “refusal” to “experience a minuscule loss of profits” to help poorer nations cope.

He continued: “In the face of the unbearable human tragedy that we in developing countries see unfolding every day, we see callousness, strategizing and obfuscation. We can, all of us, now see clearly what lies ahead at Copenhagen.”

But his statement came after 2 a.m. Many of the senior delegates from richer countries had already left, heading to hotels to pack their bags and then race off to the airport.

The WWF isn’t satisfied either:

WWF says the disappointing lack of progress at UN climate talks in Poznan is a major missed opportunity towards reaching a new global climate treaty in Copenhagen in 2009. The stalemate was largely the result of a collapse in European Union leadership and obstructionism by other industrialized countries taking the negotiations hostage.

(…) “Instead, industrialized countries preached sermons about the importance of climate protection in the Poznan plenary while lacking or attacking policies to make it happen at home – a serious sign of climate schizophrenia.”

With the US largely sidelined amid the transitioning presidential administration, the hope for EU leadership was dashed as Heads of States meeting in Brussels watered down the block’s climate package instead of moving clean energy development center stage for invigorating the economy.

In contrast, developing countries arrived in Poznan with a constructive spirit and proposals to match, highlighted by China’s impressive leadership and Mexico’s pledge to cut 50% of emissions by 2050.