Ithaca Journal, January 3, 2011, Monday

Ithaca Journal

January 3, 2011, Monday

Ithaca Journal

CU educator cites gains at climate talks
Dissension expected at this year's gathering

A walk on the beach is how Sean Sweeney, director of the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, described December's United Nations climate change conference. But the 2011 session will be more like a snake pit, he said.

"The purpose of this year's meeting was to discuss what everyone could agree on," Sweeney said. "It was a chance to agree and feel good. There was no real confrontation, but the next one will be brutal."

Sweeney was one of three Cornell faculty members who attended the 16th Conference of Parties in Cancun, Mexico, in early December. Sweeney spoke on the role of labor unions in promoting climate protection.

In addition, Antonio Bento, professor of applied economics and management, spoke on the use of agriculture and forestry to manage carbon offsets. Johannes Lehmann, professor of crop and soil sciences, spoke on sustainable agriculture and carbon management.

This was Sweeney's fourth conference, he said. But it was much different.

"The main goal was to keep the process moving. There were no expectations to have big decisions made," he said.

The resulting Cancun Agreement gives the more than 190 participating countries another year to decide whether to extend the Kyoto Protocol -- the 1997 agreement that requires wealthier nations to lower emissions, while providing aid to developing countries to reach a cleaner energy future, according to The New York Times.

But the key is that this agreement is not legally binding, Sweeney said. The document is a "stepping stone" toward a legal global treaty, and the only country who did not sign it was Bolivia, he said. They viewed the document as too weak, according to the Times.

"The document is not insignificant, though. There are several things laid out in it that countries agreed upon," Sweeney said. He noted the agreement to slow deforestation and the ultimate goal of reducing emissions to the level where human activity no longer interferes with the climate.

Last year in Copenhagen, the goal was to produce a global treaty, Sweeney said. That conference ended without an agreement and this year's was largely to map out what countries agreed upon.

All of this will set up a "big fight" in Durban, South Africa, Sweeney said.

"It will be nasty. Rather than resolve the main issue of a legally binding agreement, which would have led to another train wreck, they decided to discuss what they could agree on. Next year will be different."