Tianjin Intersessional talks reach crunch point

As the China-hosted UN climate talks in Tianjin approach their conclusion, Kelly Dent, Senior Climate Change Advisor for Oxfam commented: 

“A famous Chinese proverb says that ‘He who has never been to the Great Wall can never be a great man (不到长城非好汉). ‘"In Tianjin, all the parties involved know what is needed to arrive at the Great Wall in the negotiations. But if governments actually want to be great people, they need to put some real building blocks for the wall in place.”

“Establishing a new Global Climate Fund that is fair, accessible and accountable, and agreeing on a pathway for a binding agreement, are essential building blocks that must be achieved in Cancun.”

“At this juncture, Tianjin has given us a glimmer of hope that agreement on a new Fund at Cancun is possible. It is crucial that rich countries don’t hold the climate fund hostage to progress in other areas of the negotiations.  Treating the new Fund as a bargaining chip will only result in deadlock and more suffering for  vulnerable people in poor countries.”

“The outlines of an agreement for Cancun are beginning to appear, but there is still so much more governments urgently need to fill in to make it real. For vulnerable people in poor countries, especially for smallholder women farmers, who produce more than half of the food in some countries, this is the crunch point.”

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