Cancún: What Happens Next?

The Cancún Agreements: what they mean, where issues now stand, and
where they're going (to Durban!)

The deal U.N. climate negotiators reached last week in Cancún is
modest, but the gathering's dramatic conclusion does restore
confidence in the U.N. process, which was limping badly after last
year's fiasco in Copenhagen.

Observers witnessed one of the most dramatic closing "plenary"
sessions of the 16 years of negotiations yet, complete with rounds of
standing ovations as the Mexican chair overrode Bolivia's vocal
objections and efforts to block adoption of the agreement. But,
seeing themselves as holding in their hands not just the fate of the
U.N. climate process, but also the credibility of the multilateral
system, 193 of the 194 countries united to adopt the "Cancún
Agreements" and redefine what the climate convention's "consensus"
decision-making process means.

Unlike so many previous meetings, ministers and their negotiators
vacated the Moon Palace beach resort with giddy relief and a renewed
self-confidence in their ability to make progress in this particular
forum. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) talks appear to have stumbled back on track.

http://blogs.edf.org/climatetalks/2010/12/15/the-cancun-agreements-what-they
-mean-where-issues-now-stand-and-where-they%E2%80%99re-going-to-durban/?utm_
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