Journey to Cancun, Mexico 2010: Is there hope?

The briefing examines the 2010 Cancun climate talks following the perceived disappointment of the 2009 Copenhagen summit. It argues that success in Cancun depends on building trust between developed and developing nations through the tangible delivery of pledged 'fast-start' funding, understanding stakeholder interests, and adopting a modular approach to agreements rather than requiring a total consensus on all issues simultaneously. The author emphasizes the need for inclusive dialogue and concrete deliverables in areas such as clean energy technology, REDD, and climate resilience to restore confidence in the UNFCCC process.

• The success of the Cancun talks depends heavily on developed countries demonstrating that their financial pledges to developing nations are being converted into actual funds to build trust.
• To avoid the deadlock seen in previous negotiations, the document suggests abandoning the principle that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, instead building the agreement piece by piece.
• The briefing identifies several key implementing activities that require agreement in Cancun, including the deployment of clean energy technology, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD), and improving national resilience to climate impacts.
• The 2009 Copenhagen outcome is characterized as a disappointment regarding a binding agreement, but a significant starting point that highlighted the difficulty of negotiating among 194 countries with diverse economic and political interests.

APA

Mateche, D. E. (2010). Journey to Cancun, Mexico 2010: Is there hope? Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/journey-to-cancun-mexico-2010-is-there-hope

Chicago

Mateche, Damaris E. Journey to Cancun, Mexico 2010: Is there hope? Institute for Security Studies, 2010. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/journey-to-cancun-mexico-2010-is-there-hope.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mateche |first1=Damaris E. |title=Journey to Cancun, Mexico 2010: Is there hope? |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=2010 |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/journey-to-cancun-mexico-2010-is-there-hope |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mateche2010journey, author = {Mateche, Damaris E.}, title = {{Journey to Cancun, Mexico 2010: Is there hope?}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2010}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/journey-to-cancun-mexico-2010-is-there-hope}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }