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The United Nations’ annual climate conference—held this year in Cancun, Mexico—concluded this weekend offering little more than the assurance that negotiations will continue next year in Durban, South Africa. With expectations drastically reduced by the ineffectiveness of last year’s talks, the UN hailed the establishment of a global climate fund as an important first step to providing assistance to the world’s poorest countries as they attempt to deal with the worst effects of climate change. Another development came with Japan succumbing to enormous last-minute pressure to not block the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol. However, with mounting resistance to the treaty, which is set to expire in 2012, many wonder whether these actions just delay the inevitable for Kyoto. Meanwhile tenuous progress took form in the deforestation deal known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation or (REDD), which establishes a framework for rich countries to reimburse poor countries to stop logging. However, the details of how to pay for REDD are still unclear. Environmental and indigenous activists are also concerned that the ambiguous language will allow logging companies to continue tree removal by simply avoiding protected areas of forest and that rich nations will utilize the deal to offset their own carbon emissions. At it current rates, deforestation accounts for approximately 20% of CO2 emissions worldwide—more than all cars, buses, air planes, trains, and ships combined.

GUEST: David Waskow is the Climate Change Program Director at Oxfam America. He is a veteran of national and international climate change negotiations and just returned from the UN talks in Cancun, Mexico.

Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Find out more at: www.oxfam.org