WRAP UP: UN climate change talks in Cancun
TEXT OF STORY
STEVE CHIOTAKIS: It’s the final day of United Nations climate change talks in Cancun, Mexico. A whole lot wasn’t expected from the summit. So did it deliver anything?
Marketplace’s Eve Troeh is there in the home stretch to give us a wrap-up. Hi Eve.
EVE TROEH: Hi.
CHIOTAKIS: Eve, will there be some surprise deal?
TROEH: Last we heard there are some areas where everyone’s ready to move forward. But there’s sticking points are blocking any major progress, or really even minor progress. Elliot Diringer is here in Cancun with the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. And he put it like this.
ELLIOT DIRINGER: We have the makings of a deal, but time is running short. And parties need to start moving from their hard line positions if within 24 hours we are going to have a deal.
CHIOTAKIS: Alright, hard line positions — who are the big players there, Eve?
TROEH: There are sort of two stories going with big players. More wealthy countries want every nation to sacrifice equally to slow climate change, but that’s very different from the story that’s embedded in UN climate law, which says industrial countries caused climate change, so they should pay first and pay more to fix it. A couple specific things to watch: the U.S. doesn’t think it’s fair for it to give money for climate change, if the countries that get that money, especially China, don’t have to verify their progress. Japan doesn’t think it’s fair to lower its emissions by law if major polluters like the U.S. and China don’t have to do that. So something will be signed in Cancun, Steve, but if it’s not significant, than the UN process for climate change loses a lot of legitimacy.
CHIOTAKIS: Marketplace’s Eve Troeh in Cancun. Eve, Thanks.
TROEH: Thank you.
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