It’s 3:30am here in Cancun, and the draft decisions presented by Mexico today have been adopted, on both the KP and LCA track. They are being referred to as the ‘Cancun Agreements’.
The argument used was that the UN works through consensus, but when 193 out of 194 countries agree, it’s not possible for the process to be held hostage by one country. And one country cannot have veto rights when there is such broad-based agreement. I’m no legal expert, so I can’t talk about the legal standing of the decisions that have just been passed, but I do know that Minister Espinosa got another standing ovation when she passed the final decision.
Although the draft decisions taken here were taken in a dramatic manner, they do represent progress in these negotiations. However, they don’t go nearly far enough to save the climate, but they do represent a foundation that must be built upon in South Africa next year. There is much work to be done.