The Bali roadmap for global climate policy: new horizons and old pitfalls
The international climate negotiations have seen endless struggles between countries from South and North for almost 17 years, ever since the initiation of negotiations by the International Negotiation Committee for the UNFCCC. The 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol held in Bali in December 2007 (the Bali conference), could mark the beginning of a rapprochement. This article examines the outcomes of the Bali conference, focusing on the negotiations regarding post-2012, flexible mechanisms, financial mechanisms, technology transfer and deforestation. Finally, the article concludes that the Bali Conference saw a significant shift in the battle lines, a rearrangement of positions and alliances that might well announce a decisive new era in global climate policy and provides a real chance to agree on an effective and workable post-2012 agreement in Copenhagen.