On the final day of the Tianjin meeting, (October 9 2010) UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres, and Mexican Foreign Minister, Patricia Espinosa, gave a joint press conference where they stated that governments have made progress in defining what can be achieved at the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun. Ms Figueres pointed out the critical importance of “turning dry texts into a set of keys that unlock a new level of climate action – among rich and poor, business and consumers, governments and citizens.” Minister Espinosa said that “the outcomes of this year’s conferences can truly be the start of a new era of cooperative global climate action.” She added that Cancun can and should be a very significant step forward.

See the entire webcast here.

There is no reason to give up on Cancun’s upcoming climate meeting yet. As this video illustrates, they are making progress, even if it’s very very slow.  As Figueres says, they are closer to a set of agreements for Cancun. The possible results of a Cancun outcome was well-received by the involved parties and is being revised in light of further progress.  She also said the governments have discussed each element in the lists and have commented on what is “doable”.  That should be interesting.  She enumerates the list of what needs to be done and agreed upon as:

1) A long-term shared vision
2) Adaptation
3)  Mitigation and the key operational elements of finance
4) Technology and capacity-building in addition to the future of the Kyoto Protocol.

Below is part of an article about what China is up to lately with green energy.

Scaling up. Solar and wind power are making huge strides in China. CREDIT: XINHUA/LANDOV

Climate Talks Still at Impasse, China Buffs Its Green Reputation

by Richard Stone , Science Magazine

TIANJIN, CHINA—Delegates to a United Nations meeting here last week made scant headway on a global strategy for reining in greenhouse gas emissions. But amid the pessimism and recriminations, one nation won praise from observers for its efforts to boost energy efficiency and invest in green technologies: the host,China.

Negotiators from 177 countries came to this port city near Beijing with low expectations for progress on a deal that could slow global warming, and thick smog that blanketed Tianjin further dampened spirits. Last week’s U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting was a preparatory session for a summit next month in Cancun, Mexico, where countries will resume the Sisyphean task of crafting a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, in which 39 industrialized nations and the European Union committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions several percent from 1990 levels by 2012. According to the 1997 accord’s principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities,” developing nations, including China, have pledged to take voluntary steps to rein in carbon emissions.

. . .

With any progress toward a new accord elusive, the two biggest greenhouse gas emitters—China and the United States—fired broadsides at each other. The lead U.S. negotiator in Tianjin, Jonathan Pershing, criticized China and other [...]