BEIJING, Dec. 10 -- The negotiation process in Copenhagen is very complicated as all parties are trying to coordinate different interests and bargain with each other, Su Wei, deputy head of the Chinese delegation, told the Global Times Thursday during an exclusive interview.
"It's hard to tell whether the negotiations have made any progress," Su said, as the climate summit is moving to the end of the first week of negotiations.
Although big challenges still remain, he emphasized that the Copenhagen conference must reach an agreement that has substance and reflects the consensus of all parties.
After the basic principles were set up, further negotiations in detail will be needed after the conference on minor subjects such as how to establish and run a management institution for financial support and technological transfer.
"The key to a successful outcome is sincerity and a political will to take action," he said.
Some industrialized countries made suggestions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to completely change the existing system of negotiation.
Such proposals raised concerns and caution among developing countries, which insisted on negotiating on the basis of the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Roadmap.
"By trying to shift the focus of the conference, developed countries want to get away from what they should be responsible for," he said.
Climate change is an urgent problem for developing countries, especially small island countries, which look forward to, at best, a final legally binding agreement on all aspects.
But taking the reality of all parties into consideration, participating countries should at least reach an agreement in principle, to point a direction for further negotiations under the Bali Roadmap, as the Chinese delegates believe.
The Tuvalu Islands, for example, proposed a new protocol that would have the advantage of potentially forcing deeper global emissions cuts, but could lead to other developing countries also having to make those cuts, The Guardian reported Wednesday.
Su said that the issues raised by Tuvalu should be discussed and are already under discussion. The majority of countries think that all delegations should focus on pushing forward the efforts of the two working groups for the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol at the Copenhagen conference to make progress and provide a more solid basis for a successful outcome.
During the process, the suggestions made by Tuvalu should also be taken into consideration to a certain extent.
The Tuvalu proposal was widely covered by the media of industrialized countries, which claim it was a sign for developing countries to split during the talks.
"This is pure exaggeration," Su said. "Developing countries are unified in general and are able to reach a common position and consensus through negotiations to protect our common interests."
He believes that some media of industrialized countries are trying to make an issue out of Tuvalu and to split up the developing countries by emphasizing their differences.
"Developed countries are using the media to divert people's attention, so that they can blame developing countries if the Copenhagen conference fails to reach an agreement," Su said. "But we won't split just because they said so."
(Source: Global Times)
Special report: Global Climate Change
