After the Danish COP presidency was forced to give up on creating consensus around a draft text for a political climate deal, negotiations broke the deadlock Thursday and continued on a two-track basis.
Michael von Bülow 17/12/2009 23:00
"There is less than 24 hours. If we carry on like this, it will be a failure," French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned from the conference podium, according to Reuters.
"Time is against us, let's stop posturing.... A failure in Copenhagen would be a catastrophe for each and every one of us," he said in his speech, AFP reports.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown addressed the conference with a plea for countries to "overcome obstacles". He called for a 10-billion-dollar annual fund to help developing nations cope with climate change and hoped for a legally binding agreement within six months.
"We cannot permit the politics of narrow self interest to prevent a policy for human survival. For all of us there is no greater national interest than the common future of this planet," Brown concluded his warning, according to The Guardian.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned appeal saying that global warming is a task for all of us:
"We need to show the world works together, as we did in the economic and financial crisis. Please, in this spirit, let us all work over the next 24 hours so that tomorrow we will be able to meet again in this hall and show that we have understood, life cannot go on as it was. The world needs to change. Let us all work together fruitfully in these 24 hours," Angela Merkel said, according to Euronews.net.
A"victory for the developing world", writes British daily The Guardian, concluding that rich nations have "abandoned an attempt to kill off the Kyoto protocol in a last-gasp effort to salvage a deal at the climate change summit in Copenhagen".
Several countries – including China – have expressed ambitions to resuscitate the talks despite huge differences over levels of emissions cuts, financing and monitoring, the newspaper reports.
"We are not giving up. The irony is that on substance we have had considerable movement in the last few days. For the talks to be in this state simply over matters of procedure rather than substance is immensely disappointing," a UK official says, according to The Guardian.
"We have lost a day and a half. I don't want to point fingers. We must get talks back on a solid substantive track by the time the world leaders meet tomorrow," the Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh said.
Algerian envoy Kamel Djemouai, who speaks for 53 African nations, is not so enthusiastic:
"No deal is better than to have a bad deal, particularly for Africa.... To get to a bad deal with our heads of state here is quite difficult for anybody to accept here," the envoy says, according to Bloomberg.
According to the Danish daily Berlingske Tidende, the Presidency on Wednesday night abandoned attempts to create consensus on a text that should have formed the basis of a global political agreement to combat climate change.
119 heads of state and government meet on Thursday and Friday in Copenhagen to negotiate global initiatives to combat global warming. The Presidency had hoped to present the world leaders with a text containing as few as possible open questions on issues such as emission cuts, financing of climate aid to developing countries, accounting for emissions etc.
According to Berlingske Tidende, the developing countries represented by the Group of 77 blocked the initiative.
Now, the strategy is to try to make progress in some isolated areas, preparing the ground for the next UN climate negotiations which will take place in Mexico next year, Berlingske Tidende reports.
According to the Guardian, on Wednesday evening frustrated negotiators spoke openly for the first time of – at best – reaching a weak political agreement that would leave no clear way forward to tackle rising greenhouse gas emissions.
“That would mean the negotiations staying in limbo well into next year, increasing the damage caused by global warming,” the Guardian reported.
Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said China is ready for "dialogue and cooperation that is not intrusive, that does not infringe on China's sovereignty."
His remarks Thursday came after US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the US would join others in raising 100 billion US dollars a year to help developing countries fight climate change.
The financing of climate aid for poor nations and the verification of China's voluntary actions to reduce the growth of its emissions address two key issues blocking an agreement at the Copenhagen summit.
Hillary Clinton confirmed that the US wants strong action to combat climate change. She hoped that negotiations would take important steps forward within few hours, as “we all face the same challenge together”.
The Secretary of State confirmed that the US will pay its share of the short term financing of adaptation and mitigation in developing countries during the next three years. The US is also “prepared to work together with other countries” to raise 100 billion US dollars annually by 2020.
“In the context of a strong accord, in which all major economies stand behind meaningful mitigation actions and provide full transparency as to their implementation, the United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilising 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries," she said.
Hillary Clinton stressed that the US wanted the funding to benefit the poorest and most vulnerable countries, and insisted that developing countries allow measurement, reporting and verification of emissions curbs as part of a deal.
Larger developing countries have – according to various media reports – so far rejected this proposal.
"It would be hard to imagine, speaking for the United States, that there could be the legal or financial commitment that I've just announced in the absence of transparency from the second biggest emitter, and now I guess the first biggest," she said with a hint to China, Reuters reported.
"There has to be a willingness to move toward transparency in whatever forum we finally determine is appropriate. So if there is not even a commitment to pursue transparency, that's kind of a dealbreak for us," she said.
The official said that China instead suggested issuing "a short political declaration of some sort."
Later Thursday, China's Climate Change Ambassador Yu Qingtai (photo above) rejected the signals as malicious rumors.
"I do not know where this rumor came from but I can assure you that the Chinese delegation came to Copenhagen with hope and have not given it up," Yu Qingtai told Reuters.
"Copenhagen is too important to fail," he said.
Beijing wants a deal that capture all progress achieved over two years of UN-led negotiations and leave room for swift progress on unresolved areas next year, according to Yu Qingtai.
The Danish Presidency tried all afternoon and evening on Wednesday to create consensus on a text on the basis of which the heads of state and government were supposed to continue their talks. On Thursday the text was given up after pressure from developing countries - according to the media - and negotiations continued without it.
119 heads of state and government will be present at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen.
The decision came after the Danish Presidency of the conference had consultations on procedure with the delegates, starting Wednesday afternoon.
The developing countries, represented by Group of 77, have in particular expressed fears that the developed countries would “kill the Kyoto Protocol” in Copenhagen. The G-77 backed the new proposal on procedure.
The conference also agreed to establish a contact group between the two negotiation tracks, headed by the Danish Minister Connie Hedegaard.
Negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol began on Wednesday afternoon.
The Danish Prime Minister and President of the conference, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, asked the groups to work on a short deadline.
Sarkozy: Failure in Copenhagen would be a catastrophe
European leaders expressed themselves in no uncertain terms when addressing fellow heads of state and governments attending the penultimate day of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen.
Rie Jerichow 17/12/2009 22:05
While climate negotiations continued at full stretch in the Bella Center on how to share the burden of carbon emissions cuts and the cost of global warming, European leaders took turns in delivering their peptalks in the plenary hall."There is less than 24 hours. If we carry on like this, it will be a failure," French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned from the conference podium, according to Reuters.
"Time is against us, let's stop posturing.... A failure in Copenhagen would be a catastrophe for each and every one of us," he said in his speech, AFP reports.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown addressed the conference with a plea for countries to "overcome obstacles". He called for a 10-billion-dollar annual fund to help developing nations cope with climate change and hoped for a legally binding agreement within six months.
"We cannot permit the politics of narrow self interest to prevent a policy for human survival. For all of us there is no greater national interest than the common future of this planet," Brown concluded his warning, according to The Guardian.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned appeal saying that global warming is a task for all of us:
"We need to show the world works together, as we did in the economic and financial crisis. Please, in this spirit, let us all work over the next 24 hours so that tomorrow we will be able to meet again in this hall and show that we have understood, life cannot go on as it was. The world needs to change. Let us all work together fruitfully in these 24 hours," Angela Merkel said, according to Euronews.net.
Kyoto proponents win first round
After the climate conference agreed on the procedure for further negotiations, the Danish hosts re-launched UN climate talks on Thursday. A British newspaper calls it a "victory for the developing world."
Rie Jerichow 17/12/2009 17:50
The Copenhagen negotiations broke the deadlock on Thursday and are now moving forward on a two-track basis that maintains the integrity of the Kyoto protocol.A"victory for the developing world", writes British daily The Guardian, concluding that rich nations have "abandoned an attempt to kill off the Kyoto protocol in a last-gasp effort to salvage a deal at the climate change summit in Copenhagen".
Several countries – including China – have expressed ambitions to resuscitate the talks despite huge differences over levels of emissions cuts, financing and monitoring, the newspaper reports.
"We are not giving up. The irony is that on substance we have had considerable movement in the last few days. For the talks to be in this state simply over matters of procedure rather than substance is immensely disappointing," a UK official says, according to The Guardian.
"We have lost a day and a half. I don't want to point fingers. We must get talks back on a solid substantive track by the time the world leaders meet tomorrow," the Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh said.
Algerian envoy Kamel Djemouai, who speaks for 53 African nations, is not so enthusiastic:
"No deal is better than to have a bad deal, particularly for Africa.... To get to a bad deal with our heads of state here is quite difficult for anybody to accept here," the envoy says, according to Bloomberg.
Uphill struggle for ambitious deal
The Danish Presidency has given up on its ambition to create consensus on a text that would form the basis of a global political deal to combat global warming, reports a Danish daily.
Marianne Bom 17/12/2009 11:15
Bridging the gap between developed and developing countries was not possible during consultations held by the Danish Presidency of the UN climate conference, on Wednesday.According to the Danish daily Berlingske Tidende, the Presidency on Wednesday night abandoned attempts to create consensus on a text that should have formed the basis of a global political agreement to combat climate change.
119 heads of state and government meet on Thursday and Friday in Copenhagen to negotiate global initiatives to combat global warming. The Presidency had hoped to present the world leaders with a text containing as few as possible open questions on issues such as emission cuts, financing of climate aid to developing countries, accounting for emissions etc.
According to Berlingske Tidende, the developing countries represented by the Group of 77 blocked the initiative.
Now, the strategy is to try to make progress in some isolated areas, preparing the ground for the next UN climate negotiations which will take place in Mexico next year, Berlingske Tidende reports.
According to the Guardian, on Wednesday evening frustrated negotiators spoke openly for the first time of – at best – reaching a weak political agreement that would leave no clear way forward to tackle rising greenhouse gas emissions.
“That would mean the negotiations staying in limbo well into next year, increasing the damage caused by global warming,” the Guardian reported.
China willing to detail emission effort
According to Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei China is ready for "dialogue and cooperation that is not intrusive, that does not infringe on China's sovereignty".
Associated Press 17/12/2009 17:20
China says it is willing to provide details about its actions to control carbon emissions, moving to meet a key US demand for verification of China's promises to fight global warming.Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said China is ready for "dialogue and cooperation that is not intrusive, that does not infringe on China's sovereignty."
His remarks Thursday came after US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the US would join others in raising 100 billion US dollars a year to help developing countries fight climate change.
The financing of climate aid for poor nations and the verification of China's voluntary actions to reduce the growth of its emissions address two key issues blocking an agreement at the Copenhagen summit.
The US insists on transparency
In partnership with other countries, the US will try to mobilise 100 billion dollars a year for climate aid by 2020, according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The US insists that funding will only be granted if developing countries allow for full transparency of their emissions.
Marianne Bom 17/12/2009 16:55
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Copenhagen on Thursday just as climate negotiations had “reached a critical junction” and talks were “difficult”, as she said at a press briefing.Hillary Clinton confirmed that the US wants strong action to combat climate change. She hoped that negotiations would take important steps forward within few hours, as “we all face the same challenge together”.
The Secretary of State confirmed that the US will pay its share of the short term financing of adaptation and mitigation in developing countries during the next three years. The US is also “prepared to work together with other countries” to raise 100 billion US dollars annually by 2020.
“In the context of a strong accord, in which all major economies stand behind meaningful mitigation actions and provide full transparency as to their implementation, the United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilising 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries," she said.
Hillary Clinton stressed that the US wanted the funding to benefit the poorest and most vulnerable countries, and insisted that developing countries allow measurement, reporting and verification of emissions curbs as part of a deal.
Larger developing countries have – according to various media reports – so far rejected this proposal.
"It would be hard to imagine, speaking for the United States, that there could be the legal or financial commitment that I've just announced in the absence of transparency from the second biggest emitter, and now I guess the first biggest," she said with a hint to China, Reuters reported.
"There has to be a willingness to move toward transparency in whatever forum we finally determine is appropriate. So if there is not even a commitment to pursue transparency, that's kind of a dealbreak for us," she said.
China signals hope for deal
China was reported to signal an operational accord out of reach. Now China's climate change ambassador says China has not given up hope for a deal.
Marianne Bom (article updated) 17/12/2009 14:10
China no longer sees a possibility of achieving an operational accord to tackle global warming this week at the UN climate conference, Reuters reported early Thursday morning, quoting an unnamed official involved in the talks.The official said that China instead suggested issuing "a short political declaration of some sort."
Later Thursday, China's Climate Change Ambassador Yu Qingtai (photo above) rejected the signals as malicious rumors.
"I do not know where this rumor came from but I can assure you that the Chinese delegation came to Copenhagen with hope and have not given it up," Yu Qingtai told Reuters.
"Copenhagen is too important to fail," he said.
Beijing wants a deal that capture all progress achieved over two years of UN-led negotiations and leave room for swift progress on unresolved areas next year, according to Yu Qingtai.
The Danish Presidency tried all afternoon and evening on Wednesday to create consensus on a text on the basis of which the heads of state and government were supposed to continue their talks. On Thursday the text was given up after pressure from developing countries - according to the media - and negotiations continued without it.
119 heads of state and government will be present at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen.
COP15 agree on procedure
The UN climate conference on Thursday agreed on the procedure for further negotiations.
Marianne Bom 17/12/2009 14:00
At Thursday noon, the delegates at the UN climate conference decided to continue the climate talks in two tracks, one on the Kyoto Protocol, another on the Climate Change Convention.The decision came after the Danish Presidency of the conference had consultations on procedure with the delegates, starting Wednesday afternoon.
The developing countries, represented by Group of 77, have in particular expressed fears that the developed countries would “kill the Kyoto Protocol” in Copenhagen. The G-77 backed the new proposal on procedure.
The conference also agreed to establish a contact group between the two negotiation tracks, headed by the Danish Minister Connie Hedegaard.
Negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol began on Wednesday afternoon.
The Danish Prime Minister and President of the conference, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, asked the groups to work on a short deadline.
Obama won't break new ground at summit
A warning to delegates in Copenhagen: If you're looking for President Barack Obama to cave to pressure and deepen US efforts to curb greenhouse gases, don't bet on it.
AP/Nanet Poulsen 17/12/2009 09:05
A warning to delegates in Copenhagen: If you're looking for President Barack Obama to cave to pressure and deepen US efforts to curb greenhouse gases, don't bet on it.
Obama, like most world leaders, is constrained by tough politics at home. And that makes it tougher for the summit to produce meaningful pollution cuts.
US officials stressed Wednesday that when Obama travels to the climate conference in Denmark this week he won't bring anything to the talks beyond Washington's already stated goals: to commit to reducing greenhouse gases by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and to pay a "fair share" into a 10 billion US dollars fund to help developing countries deal with climate change.
Developing countries have called on the United States and Europe to make much deeper cuts in the short term — by at least 34 percent from 2005 emission levels by 2020. Those are reductions far beyond what members of Congress — even those supporting climate legislation — say they will accept.
"We don't want to promise something we don't have," Todd Stern, chief of the US delegation to the climate conference, told reporters this week in Copenhagen. He said he did not anticipate any change in the US commitment.
Said Democratic Rep. Edward Markey, a co-author of a climate bill already passed by the House of Representatives: The president "is not going to go further. ... The words he is going to use are the same words he has been using for the last two weeks."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, too, kept a tight hold on expectations for the summit. Noting that there are remaining disagreements among delegates, he said the president "is hopeful that his presence can help" produce "a strong operational agreement, even as we work toward something even stronger in the future."
In Copenhagen, Stern, the U.S. delegation head, declared: "Our commitment is tied to our anticipated legislation. We don't want to promise something we don't have."
At the same time, administration officials said — and are arguing in meetings in Copenhagen — that the U.S. is doing more to reduce the climate change threat than getting legislation passed by Congress.
In recent days, the White House has choreographed a series of announcements and events in Washington designed to highlight those efforts — from tax breaks for renewable energy manufacturers to the president visiting a home remodeling store to declare it is "sexy" to better insulate your home.
The White House distributed a memo noting that the economic recovery program contains 80 billion dollars to help promote clean energy development including money for renewable energy projects, nuclear power plants, more fuel efficient motor vehicles and commercial development of carbon capture technologies to be used at coal burning power plants.
It was a message designed for both Copenhagen and domestic consumption.
Emissions pledges do not match needs
Emissions cuts offered so far at the Copenhagen summit will lead to global temperatures rising by an average of three degrees, a confidential UN analysis obtained by The Guardian reveals.
Rie Jerichow 17/12/2009 20:50
A confidential UN draft marked "do not distribute" and "initial draft" shows a gap of up to 4.2 gigatonnes of carbon emissions between the present pledges and the required level of 44 gigatonnes that is required to stay below a two degree temperature rise, The Guardian reports.
According to the "Stern Review" by economist Nicholas Stern for the British government, a warming of three or four degrees Celsius will result in tens to hundreds of millions more people being flooded each year due to rising sea levels. "There will be serious risks and increasing pressures for coastal protection in Southeast Asia (Bangladesh and Vietnam), small islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and large coastal cities, such as Tokyo, New York, Cairo and London," the report shows.
Greenpeace describes the confidential document as "explosive" and showing that the numbers on the table at the moment would lead to nothing less than "climate breakdown" and an "extraordinarily dangerous situation for humanity".
"The UN is admitting in private that the pledges made by world leaders would lead to a three degree rise in temperatures. The science shows that it could lead to the collapse of the Amazon rainforest, crippling water shortages across South America and Australia and the near-extinction of tropical coral reefs, and that's just the start of it," Greenpeace campaigner Joss Garman tells the newspaper.
Source> http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=3044
According to the "Stern Review" by economist Nicholas Stern for the British government, a warming of three or four degrees Celsius will result in tens to hundreds of millions more people being flooded each year due to rising sea levels. "There will be serious risks and increasing pressures for coastal protection in Southeast Asia (Bangladesh and Vietnam), small islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and large coastal cities, such as Tokyo, New York, Cairo and London," the report shows.
Greenpeace describes the confidential document as "explosive" and showing that the numbers on the table at the moment would lead to nothing less than "climate breakdown" and an "extraordinarily dangerous situation for humanity".
"The UN is admitting in private that the pledges made by world leaders would lead to a three degree rise in temperatures. The science shows that it could lead to the collapse of the Amazon rainforest, crippling water shortages across South America and Australia and the near-extinction of tropical coral reefs, and that's just the start of it," Greenpeace campaigner Joss Garman tells the newspaper.
Source> http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=3044
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