|
http://visiblemystery.blogspot.com/2009/12/cop15-day-11.html
Thursday, December 17, 2009
COP15 -- day 11
These are in order by earliest to latest.
Obama won't break new ground at summit (Nanet Poulsen, AP) 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.
Uphill struggle for ambitious deal 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.
COP15 agree on procedure 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.
China signals hope for deal 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."
European Parliament: Show responsibility Leaders of the world must take the necessary responsibility in the upcoming 48 hours, urge members of the official delegation of 15 MEPs, who are closely following the negotiations for a climate change agreement in Copenhagen
"Some states still refuse to put forward ambitious proposals for global climate protection. China has to take its responsibility as the largest polluter in the world. Similarly, India, Brazil and South Africa must emerge from the G77 group and take a clear position. An agreement without the major emerging economies would not be enough to halt climate change," says Jo Leinen, head of the official European Parliament delegation at the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen.
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. Yeah, 'cause that's working so well for us at home.
China willing to detail emission effort 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."
Kyoto proponents win first round 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". |
-
|