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Cancun climate talks

Storm clouds at sunset over the ocean. Seychelles.

The Talks End
11 December 2010
We’re very encouraged by the positive mood and warm glow as the UN climate talks ended in Cancun this morning. World governments laid tentative groundwork for a global agreement to fight climate change by agreeing a series of commitments – for instance on a global ‘green fund’. But now we need to see real hard work and action to build on the progress made, with the aim of a final outcome at next year’s talks in South Africa.

The Problem
Climate change is a global problem – that’s why we need international agreement on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve forests and help poorer countries adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. World leaders failed to agree a climate treaty at Copenhagen last year – the UN Climate Conference in Cancun is the next big chance to make progress towards that deal.

The UN climate conference starting in Cancun, Mexico from 29 November is a great chance for world politicians to show personal and collective vision and determination to strike a deal.

We need dynamic and constructive talks – and there are benefits to be had all round. Not just avoiding the costs of climate change impacts – social and economic costs – but also from the positive creation of lots of green jobs.

There’s a political void that needs to be filled on climate change. We need leaders to step forward at Cancun.

What we want to see at Cancun

  • Firm plans for a comprehensive, legally-binding global deal by the end of 2012.
  • Consensus on key areas, including adaptation, mitigation, REDD+ (forest conservation), finance, measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) and technology.
  • UK government must take a lead on key issues, using its experience from the UK Climate Change Act.

See WWF’s full recommendations for the Cancun package

Lang Banks, Head of Communications, Scotland
Young supporter at Climate Rally

Scottish Climate Change Act could be a model

Scotland's Climate Change Act is a world-leading piece of legislation, setting the Scottish economy on a pathway to 80% reductions by 2050.


We are calling on UK Ministers to promote this model at the UN, with the goal of making this kind of low or zero-carbon action plan a requirement for all industrialised countries.

What the UK Government can help achieve at Cancun

  • Inclusion of Zero Carbon Action Plans (ZCAPs), which would commit industrialised countries to reaching near-zero emissions by 2050. The UK government can use its experience of the Climate Change Act, and its responsiveness to independent scientific information, to demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of the ZCAP approach.
  • Establishment of a Global Climate Fund and agreement on innovative sources for public climate finance – including raising finance from the aviation and shipping sector and through Financial Transaction Taxes (FTTs).
  • Finding ways to close the ‘gigatonne gap’ (the amount by which it’s predicted the world will overshoot its carbon targets unless we take more drastic action). Key elements include stressing the need for stronger action in developed countries, and closing the loopholes in carbon accounting.


The UK should also support a five-year commitment period to allow more frequent reviews of ambition levels against scientific evidence and a scientific review process to help close the gigatonne gap.

Beyond Cancun

It is unrealistic to expect governments meeting in Cancun to deliver the comprehensive agreement we’d hoped for at Copenhagen.

But it’s the first such meeting involving ministers, since Copenhagen, and a chance to put the UNFCCC negotiations back on track by providing clear political direction and commitments towards the global climate deal.

If governments show enough political, good progress can be made. The earliest we could then expect the deal to be finalised would be the next annual meeting of the UNFCCC, in South Africa in late 2011. Cancun will show how realistic that is.

Closing the 'gigatonne gap'
There’s a massive gap between the commitments national governments have so far made to reduce emissions and the reduction actually needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. This gap is sometimes expressed in terms of the extra gigatonnes of carbon dioxide that will be emitted into the atmosphere if we don’t take further action.

This gap must be closed, and the UK has a key role to play. Chris Huhne and other government ministers have already been working for a more ambitious carbon target for the EU, which would be a great step forward.

We also want Chris Huhne to support a UN process to scientifically review the current targets and check how close they take us to the globally agreed maximum temperature rise of 2˚C

You can…

Read more about WWF’s Key Country Asks for Cancun
Find out how we got there: the path to Cancun