Cancun: Sidesteps Trade Issues

Cancun Climate Summit Exceeds Low Expectations, But Sidesteps Trade Issues

22 December 2010 - The United Nations climate summit that finished in Cancun this month surpassed low expectations when governments struck a deal that keeps alive efforts for a multilateral response to tackle climate change.

The agreements reached in the Mexican beach resort do not establish caps on greenhouse gas emissions; on that crucial issue, they simply kick the can down the road to next year’s summit in Durban, South Africa. But governments agreed on an international system for monitoring mitigation, fleshed out a facility for climate finance, and established rules for rewarding forest preservation. They also steered clear of a clash that could have killed what remains of the Kyoto Protocol. Trade issues, from emissions resulting from the international shipment of goods to the use of unilateral trade measures ostensibly to offset reduced industrial competitiveness resulting from higher carbon costs, proved too contentious, and were left out of the text. {continued}