Will COP 16 Produce Global Action on Climate Change?
The 16th Conference of the Parties (COP 16) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change begins this week in Cancún, Mexico. “Parties” in attendance will represent those countries that have signed and ratified two international treaties aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.
The 2009 meeting in Copenhagen, COP 15, was largely seen as a failure since it did not produce commitments to reduce emissions. This time around, there is hope from business and industry that the outcome will lead to comprehensive, cooperative action to reduce global warming. Many businesses are already working on ways to reduce their emissions, and are hoping governments recognize their desires to jump into the green race, blogs Paul Dickenson, executive chairman of the Carbon Disclosure Project, on ClimateBiz. The confidence to invest even more in emissions reduction would be boosted with a comprehensive, international agreement to regulate emissions. Countries are also moving forward independently, with China, the European Union, Brazil, India, and others taking action to regulate and reduce emissions, according to ClimateBiz. Even in the United States, the EPA will begin regulating emissions next year despite the lack of national climate legislation.