Was Doha a success?

Did climate talks in Qatar achieve anything?

The Doha climate talks in Qatar have come to an end; and for some they were a bit of an anti-climax, as no grand, bold deal on dealing with climate change was reached. However, other commentators have stated that this was never the point of the talks, that they were just a stepping stone for the more important talks in 2015. So was Doha a success?

According to environmental organisation World Wildlife Federation, the talks were a complete failure. WWF called the deals made at Doha ‘shamefully weak’ and accused larger nations like the US, Russia and Japan of blocking any real progress. The organisation even went as far to say that many governments of developed countries are ‘out of touch with the reality of climate change’ and that at Doha they failed to deliver even the most minimum expectations of dealing with climate change.

Doha didn't produce a major climate change deal, but did pave the one for one in 2015

(Image source - Yahoo.com)

However, there are others who would disagree. Granted that no major deals on battling climate change were made at Doha, a lot of people didn’t see that as the main goal of the talks. Connie Hedegaard, environment correspondent for the Guardian, believes that Doha was simply ‘setting the stage’ for the main talks in 2015. She states that, although goals on climate change weren’t set, goals on sorting out the way future talks would go were set, and reached.

Before Doha, there were several different working groups based on the vast differences between developed and developing nations. Now, there is one negotiation forum for everyone, the Durban Platform. Before Doha, only developed nations had a legal commitment to reducing carbon emissions. Now, both developed and developing countries will make legal commitments to tackling climate change. And now, following Doha, there is now a schedule of what must be done before 2015.

So Doha may not have been the spectacular definitive moment where climate change was beaten, as some environmental groups seem to have thought it would be. But progress was made. The preparations for the major talks in 2015 were made. Now it is down to the governments to make the most of the progress made at Doha and take it into the talks in three years time. Climate change is a very serious issue, for both developing and developed nations alike, so all nations have to make sure that a proper deal is made in 2015, otherwise all of the progress made in Doha will have been for nothing.

Wales tackling climate change

Talks in Doha highlight Wales as first country to introduce unique climate law

The climate change talks in Doha, Qatar are well underway and have brought up an interesting fact. Wales, out of all the 194 countries with representatives at the talks, is the only  one to be preparing to introduce a new law that requires all public bodies, such as schools and libraries, to take into account the environmental factors of any decision.

This sustainable development bill will be law in just under a year and follows other bold actions to deal with climate change. Wales has a target of reducing carbon emissions in the country by 3% every year (which would mean a 40% reduction by 2020) and is currently leading the UK in renewable energy. The country also has plans to make improve energy efficiency in social housing by fitting homes with energy saving devices. These plans show Wales is ambitious in dealing with the issue of climate change, but one embarrassing fact is that, between 2009 and 2010, greenhouse gas emissions in the country actually increased 8%, compared to just 2% in England, although this has been attributed to economic growth and the cold winter during that period.

Wales has its sights set on becoming leader in renewable energies

(Image source - The Guardian)

John Griffiths, the Welsh assembly member who is representing them at the Doha talks, wants to get Wales utilising more onshore and offshore wind, but accepts the opposition schemes like these have faced, especially in mid-Wales. To deal with this, he wants to find a way to make energy companies benefit the local communities they operate in. "We are in discussions with companies to get more community benefit, and to provide more jobs. We need to paint a positive picture around renewables in Wales. There's a lot of benefit for us if we get it right." 

Griffiths wants more schemes to make homes in Wales energy efficient

(Image source- South Wales Argus)

Griffiths sees the importance of tackling climate change, as he blames it for the recent flooding in many parts of Wales. "We in Britain had the wettest summer for 100 years. Now we are told we will have more extremes [like this] with climate change. It was very much in line with climate change. Floods like that and the one at Talybont bring climate change home to people. It will have a severe impact."

There is potential for Wales to be seen as a small but outward-looking, progressive state, as there are scores of renewable energy companies in the country looking to help reduce the impact of climate change and, in the process, help improve the lives of the Welsh people.

UN talks on climate change

What will happen in Doha?

The UN climate change talks in Doho, Qatar get underway today, with negotiators from 194 different countries all meeting to discuss measures on how to deal with global warming on a world-wide scale. But many people don’t see anything productive coming from these talks. So why is this? Why is there a feeling of pointlessness to these discussions on climate change?

The general (and widely accepted) consensus is that the richer nations involved in the talks, mainly the US, the UK and most of the European powers, will refuse to commit to any more cuts to emissions and won’t be willing to provide any further money, whilst the poorer nations will try to hold onto the few agreements made during the last few climate talks. The stubbornness of richer countries is seen as the main reason why global climate change policies have yet to be fully implemented and accepted by everyone. 

Climate change talks take place in Doha this week

(Source - The Guardian)

In 2009, rich countries agreed to give $100bn to poorer nations to help them combat and adapt to climate change by 2020, with a minimum of £30bn being given as a down-payment. So far, not even the down-payment has been met, with the total amount of money actually given being less than the total amount of bonuses given out in the City of London. Many nations, especially in Europe, have used the economic crisis and recession of recent years as an excuse not to commit money to climate change proposals, and there are many officials and ministers in office across the world who are still sceptical about global warming. But with events such as Superstorm Sandy hitting the US recently, alongside heatwaves, droughts and wildfires in the country, as well the UK having its wettest summer and driest spring to date and October being the 333rd consecutive month global temperatures were above the 20th century average, it is hard to ignore the reality of climate change. Especially when even the World Bank has issued its own warnings, as they announced that the world is on course for a 4C temperature rise which they believe would ruin economies as well as people’s everyday lives.

However, despite all of the warning signs that global warming is a very real threat, nobody sees any of the richer countries truly committing themselves to taking action, which is why the levels of anticipation in Doha are somewhat muted.