Sino-US flexibility on climate to help ink future deal

The Bonn climate talks ended yesterday witnessing the US and China softening stance on various issues of climate politics.
China has proposed to be the host of 18th Conference of Parties (COP 18) with signalling its willingness to take action to measure and report on its own carbon cuts in future under UN framework.
China's expressed its position at a meeting of the Scientific Body for Implementation (SBI) of the UNFCCC, which delegates of different countries took as a major progress in the ongoing climate negotiation process .
With the World Cup Football kicks off yesterday with first match between two hosts of the next two international climate conferences -- Mexico and South Africa -- climate negotiators here hoped that the countries would be able to deliver a climate deal by next two years.
Prof QK Ahmad, head of Bangladesh climate negotiation working group, said the flexibility of the USA and China would help ink a climate deal, which was totally absent in Copenhagen.
The US refused to be part of any global agreement until developing nations like China also agree to cut emissions. On the other hand, China refused to sign up to anything that limits its economic growth.
“US public is now likely to look a lot more favourably on green policies allowing the Senate to pass new legislation to cut carbon emissions”, said Prof Vicki J Isler, a climate talk mediator and professor of Montclair State University, USA.
With some good progresses in Bonn in relation to four 'building blocks' of climate change, the closing day was marked by a new line of row between SISs and oil producing nations on 1.5 degree temperature threshold.
Small Island States (SIS), most at risk from sea level rise, proposed for technical study by the UNFCCC secretariat on required greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions if the world is to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius instead of 2 degrees.
But, oil producing nations led by Saudi Arabia opposed the proposal suggesting the island countries to go to “Google” if they want more information on the emission reduction.
Being irked by Saudi statement, some NGOs and delegates of 1.5 degrees supporters published cartoons and posters protesting Saudi stance, which led to mounting tense among the parties.
Oil producing countries argued that the study would find such large emission reductions requirements and help the developed countries pressurise the large developing countries to reduce their emission.
Despite the trail of blunder, the negotiators listed a number of significant progress that has been made in the two-week meeting in Bonn.
A delegate of G77 and China said the Bonn talks were more transparent than Copenhagen when developing countries accused the rich nations of repeatedly trying to push them out of process.
The developing countries are also happy with new executive secretary of the UNFCCC Christiana Figueres, who the developing countries trust more as she promised to make the UN talks a more translucent.
The Bonn climate talks helped making the 'Quick Start' fund of US$10 billion a year until 2013 started flowing as the developed countries agreed upon in Copenhagen.
Negotiators also discussed on mobilising fund of US$100 billion per annum by 2020 and probable sources of fund. However, the meeting could not resolve the issues of the governance system of climate funds.
In the meeting, a mechanism to stop deforestation called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REED) has also made progress with agreeing in principle that all nations would pay for not to chop down trees.