COP16: What Happened?

The outcome of COP16, in spite of the government of Bolivia and the determination of indigenous peoples world-round, was the passage of several capitalist accords to decrease climate change by 2 degrees. Here are some of the contentious issues that have developed.
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) was passed, giving the UN authority to increase regulations against deforestation. Unfortunately, agreements like REDD are already being used to perpetrate violence against indigenous peoples through land grabs.
A $100 billion climate aid fund has been set aside by the UN in order to finance projects that will offset carbon emissions. This new international lending body will likely take its place in a World Bank-style game of international financial loan sharking, only this time with climate aid and not development as its objective.
A short term commitment to decreasing the threat of climate change by 2 degrees was set for the year of 2012, but a long term commitment to decreasing climate change, endorsed as a top priority by Brazil, China, India and South Africa, was rejected by Japan, Canada and Russia.
On a positive note, The Economist reports, “there will be calls for Europe to go from a 20% cut to a 30% cut (in carbon emissions).”
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