Christoph Bals, policy director of environmental NGO Germanwatch, has participated in numerous United Nations climate summits over the years. He thinks that while UN climate diplomacy is slow, it is still the best way to fight global warming.
 | Christoph Bals, Executive Director Germanwatch"Only the UN can generate a process that is legitimate and legally binding." (Photo: Germanwatch) |
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the world’s most influential body on identifying the dangers of climate change. But does it have any real influence on action?
The IPCC was set up by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). Thousands of scientists here establish consensus on the climate debate, and this process drives political decisions.
The first IPCC report resulted in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; the second one in the Kyoto Protocol; the third one in the coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol. Now we hope that the fourth report results in a much more ambitious post-2012 agreement.
The strength of the UN comes from the fact that that it’s not only rich countries, but also the most vulnerable countries that have a voice. The process can result in legally binding commitments for countries. But since decisions have to be made in consensus, it is also a slow process, so we will need additional political processes to speed up these negotiations.
The United Nations are a very complex system with a lot of agencies. Which are the most important?
The General Assembly and the Security Council are the most important UN actors, but for the climate debate, it is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
 | An Indonesian man, with his body painted to resemble a tree, dances to protest against deforestation outside the UN Climate Change conference in Bali island in December 2007 (Photo: Reuters) |
The UN General Assembly just held a session on Global Private Investments and Climate Change. Can the finance sector make a difference?
The science tells us that we have to limit global warming to less than two degrees above pre-industrial levels. Only a technological revolution within the next couple of years can make this happen. Technology and finance mechanisms are the two central instruments to shift the energy investments in a low carbon direction. These investments and the expertise of the finance sector are urgently needed.
Some say the Kyoto Protocol was a failure; others think it was a success. Where do you stand?
The Kyoto Protocol was the first legally binding climate pact. It developed a lot of interesting instruments, both for mitigation and adaptation. The carbon market, established by the Kyoto Protocol, will be a cornerstone of any future agreement. But the targets were far too low. And the biggest emitter of the world (at that time) - the United States - stepped out of the process. So ten important years were lost. But most Kyoto states are on their way to reaching their targets. Only Canada and Greece are having problems.
The Bali Climate Conference in 2007 marked the start of new international negotiations on climate change, but things seem to be advancing slowly. Can hundreds of countries really agree on an international global warming policy?
There are a lot of dynamics in the process, and only the UN can generate a process that is legitimate and legally binding. But it might be too slow, so we need additional negotiations that help to speed up the process.
U.S. President George W. Bush suggested a climate agreement between the world’s most important climate polluters. Why has he received so much criticism for this?
There are many reasons. Most states do not just want to receive orders from the most influential countries. It is against fundamental democratic rules if the people most affected by decisions – the small island states and the least developed countries - are not at the table.
And President Bush suggested climate targets which were absolutely inadequate and not fair to other countries which have far lower per capita emissions.
editor: Thilo Kunzemann
publishing date: June 17, 2008
