Copenhagen conference ends with limited climate deal and much rancour
Sat 19 December 2009
View all news
The long-heralded Copenhagen climate change conference ended with a limited deal struck between just five leading nations, not including the EU. The agreement, which is a non-binding statement of political intent, will be followed up in 2010 with further negotiations intended to clarify and firm-up the details on planned emissions cuts.
The agreement - known as the Copenhagan Accord - begins with the assertion: "We underline that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. We emphasise our strong political will to urgently combat climate change in accordance with the principle of
common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities."
The Accord says that the parties will enhance co-operative action to keep the global temperature increase to below two degrees Celsius. The signatories agree that "deep cuts in global emissions are required according to science, and as documented by the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report with a view to reduce global emissions so as to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius, and take action to meet this objective consistent with science and on the basis of equity".
It goes on to say that countries should cooperate to achieve the national and global peaking of emissions 'as soon as possible'.
The Copenhagen Accord also includes the agreement that additional funding - worth $100bn a year by 2020 - should flow from the developed to developing countries to support enhanced climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Accord states: "This funding will come from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources of finance".
Most responses to the Copenhagen conference have expressed disappointment at the meeting's failure to produce more ambitious, detailed and binding commitments. However, some commentators have pointed to the historic nature of the event, the unprecedented number of world leaders present there and the signal this alone sends about the seriousness of climate change and the desire to change course.
The reasons most frequently offered for the limited outcome in Copenhagen have been:
- The complexity of the process due to the level of detail required, the large number of actors involved with highly divergent interests and the inadequacy of the procedural processes in place.
- The political situation in the United States where Congress has yet to confirm its position on climate change and CO2 reduction targets meaning that President Obama came to Copenhagen with his hands effectively tied.
- The limited movement by China as the world's largest GHG emitter, in particular, towards absolute emissions reductions over a fixed timescale.
Greenpeace described the Copenhagen conference as a 'cop-out'. The organisation's press release said: "Two years have passed since world leaders promised all of us a deal to stop climate change. After two weeks of UN negotiations, politicians breezed in, had dinner with the Queen, a three hour lunch, took some photos and then delivered what could only be described as the 24 hour Head of State tourist brochure of Copenhagen instead of a climate treaty".
The CBI's Director-General Richard Lambert, said: “The Copenhagen Accord is a missed opportunity, and a disappointing conclusion to two years of negotiations. The heads of state have come up with an agreement that skates over difficult points and is light on detail. There is now a real need to maintain momentum in order to agree as soon as possible on a legally binding replacement to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2013.
“Business needs a clearer sense of direction if it is to make the enormous investments needed to shift towards a low carbon economy. In the meantime, the emphasis must be on those actions that don't require global agreement and that bring economic benefits in their own right.
“For the UK, these include a much increased emphasis on energy efficiency in the home and the workplace, and major investment in diverse and low carbon power generation.”
Related Links
< Back to news list