An agreement made on the last day, but is it just a formality?

An overwhelming majority of the 193 countries represented at the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) approved the non-binding Cancun Agreement, presented by Mexico on Friday (December 10).

Delegates agreed to recognise the need to cut back on carbon emissions, as well as establish improved reporting and control routines to help countries follow up on their emission commitments.

The Cancun Agreement follows many of the same aims agreed at COP15 for the Copenhagen Accord. Those included limiting temperatures by less than 2C and cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The agreement, which took four years to negotiate, should help to prevent deforestation, promote the transfer of low-carbon technologies to developing countries and, by 2020, establish a Green Climate Fund, which will raise USD$100 billion annually to shield the more vulnerable countries from climate change.

Norway's Environment Minister, Erik Solheim, voiced his approval. "The agreement is the biggest step forward in combating climate change for several years," he said in a press release.

However, not all delegates were so positive. China's chief negotiator told Reuters: "While there are some shortcomings, we express our satisfaction with it."

"What we have now is a text that is not perfect but is certainly a good basis for moving forward," said Todd Stern, the US climate envoy.

Unfortunately, Bolivia was not so discrete with their distaste for the outcome, and Bolivia's chief negotiator, Pablo Solon, again talked of the slow reaction to climate change being similar to genocide.

"Bolivia is not prepared to sign a document which means an increase of the average temperature, which will put more people close to death," said Solon.

On Friday, Russia, Japan and Canada continued their firm stance against the renewal of the Kyoto Protocol. Instead they demand a broader UN treaty, which obliges other countries to binding emission targets, such as India, China and the US – the world's three biggest polluters.

Developing nations continued to blame developed nations for global warming, and say that developed nations must take the lead before developing nations will join efforts to cut emissions.

Most nations agreed that the Cancun Agreement, is merely an interim agreement, and a law-abiding treaty will only surface at COP17 in Durban next year.

Although delegates have reached an agreement, they have not made it strict enough. They failed to agree on how far overall global emissions should be cut, and there are many loopholes for countries to avoid making the cuts needed say scientists.

Researchers from Climate Action Tracker said that the pledges would set the world on course for 3.2C warming – a catastrophe for vulnerable areas.

Chris Huhne, Britain's Energy Secretary, was enthusiastic about the deal, and said: "This is way better than what we were expecting only a few weeks ago. This is a significant turning point. It clearly says that there should be reductions from developing countries. It takes us forward to a legally binding overall outcome."

Author: Charity Knight | Climate Action Image: UN Climate Talks | flickr