At UN, Yvo de Boer and Africa's Secret Climate Number, of Indian Black Carbon and Shell Games in the Niger Delta

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/uncope5offmessage112009.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 20 -- With the UN simultaneous shrinking hopes for the Copenhagen climate change meeting and telling the Press not to cover the diminshed expectations, its top negotiator Yvo de Boer on November 19 effectively set $10 billion as the ceiling for transfers to the developing world.

There is only one problem: the African Union alone is said to be looking for $67 billion annually, with a threat to walk out of Copenhagen is less is offered. Inner City Press asked de Boer is he knew of the African Union number, and if even a feigned successful conference would be possible in the Africans walked out.

De Boer said that as a UN official, he believes in bringing people together, and that any walk out would be bad. He then argued that $10 billion was only a start, not a ceiling at all. But by stating the number as an indicia of success, he effectively did that.

Inner City Press asked de Boer to comment on India's environment minister Ramesh's comment that not only will India not make binding commitments in Copenhagen on greenhouse gas emissions, it will not discuss black coal emissions at all: "Copenhagen meeting is for negotiations for cuts in GHG emission and not for black carbon emission. We would resist any move for bringing in black carbon emission for discussions. Scientific link between black carbon emission and global warming and melting of glaciers is still being studied."

At first de Boer said he hadn't seen the comment and so couldn't response. Then Inner City Press e-mailed it to him.Hours later, to his credit, de Boer responded:

Subj: Here's the Minister Ramesh / black carbon emissions quote I've asked about
From: Yvo de Boer [at] unfccc.int
To: Inner City Press
Sent: 11/19/2009 8:24:29 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

The Minister correctly states that the climate negotiations do not address black carbon as it is not a greenhouse gas. However efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can also significantly lower emissions of black carbon

We'll see. Meanwhile, given the environment, some were surprised on November 18 to find Shell's Elizabeth Cheney in a UN conference room blithely praising her company's record.

Inner City Press asked about Shell's activities for example in Nigeria, specifically in the Niger Delta where Shell was accused for playing a role in the death of activist Ken Saro Wiwa, and is currently being sued before the ECOWAS court for pollution and human rights violations.

Ms. Cheney said Shell is "suffering the activities of criminal and terrorists [who] blow things up." She said, "We are not the government of Nigeria... sometimes we shut production and move out of area."

But what about pressuring those who oppose the oil drilling or distribution of revenue? "That's more detailed than we need to get into today," Ms. Cheney said. Afterwards she promised to put Inner City Press in touch with both "communications and... the leadership part of the business, there's more transparency there." If you say so...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/uncope5offmessage112009.html

Climate Change Compromise by Australia Has No Chance, Pachauri Says, India Agrees

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un2climate092109.html

UNITED NATIONS, September 21 -- Two days before the vaunted climate change event at the UN General Assembly, a compromise proposal for the upcoming Copenhagen climate change negotiations was made by Australia, the world's largest per capita emitter of greenhouse gases. The Australian proposal would, as described by Climate Change minister Peggy Wong, would allow each country to set a national schedule of emissions.

Hours later, Inner City Press both UN climate expert Rajendra Pachauri and Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh what they thought of Australia's idea. Ramesh said that India does not agree with what he called Australia's "binding" plan, that what is it proposing to do is to up its reporting from every six year to every two years. He said he has proposed to the European Union an annual dialogue on climate change, and would ask the same of the United States.

While Pachauri left the front table of the panel discussion, held at Vermilion Restaurant on Lexington Avenue four block for the police-surrounded UN, Inner City Press caught up with him and asked point blank, what chance do you think the Australian proposal has? "None," Pachauri said. For the reasons said by Minister Ramesh? Yes, he said.

Earlier in the Q&A, a questioner had referred to what she said what that day's New York Post, with "We're Screwed" on the front page. "That was a hoax," Ramesh gently said. He added that India would be foolish not to use its coal reserves.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2climate092109.html