Comments on Copenhagen
December 21st 2009 In the aftermath of the Copenhagen climate conference where everyone is blaming everyone else for it’s failure, it is interesting to note that ‘it is a start’.This was meant to be the conclusion and failure to agree legally binding targets was doom.
Gathering 193 countries together with over 110 world leaders is unprecedented,the momentum was there and yet nothing was agreed.A treaty would be desirable if only because Europe has unilaterally set targets and if others don’t then our industries will be imperiled.
The fallout is starting to become acrimonious not just between Europe, the US and China but developing nations. Lumumba Di- Aping, who chaired the Group of 77 and the bloc of 130 poor nations said it “is asking Africa to sign a suicide pact, an incineration pact in order to maintain the economic dependence of a few countries. It’s a solution based on values that funnelled six million people in Europe into furnaces." Strong stuff indeed and in poor taste to say the least.There may be newer and better internationally agreed policies around the corner but it may be that this was the height of international diplomacy and it has turned into a Tower of Babel.
Here is a round-up of a few of the comments from the conference; some optimistic, others less so.
Craig Bennett,Co- Director of Corporate Leaders’Group on Climate Change said:“The position of the Corporate Leaders’Group and the 950 companies from over 60 countries that signed The Copenhagen Communiqué is that a legally binding deal is needed as a matter of urgency to provide business with the confidence it needs to invest in specific low-carbon technologies and infrastructure.The detail matters and, at the moment, there is very little detail”.
Richard Lambert, CBI directorgeneral, 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.”
“Well meant but half-hearted pledges to protect our planet from dangerous climate change are simply not sufficient to address a crisis that calls for completely new ways of collaboration across rich and poor countries.
Millions of lives,hundreds of billions of dollars and a wealth of lost opportunities lie in the difference between rhetoric and reality on climate change action.What we have after two years of negotiation is a half-baked text of unclear substance,” said Kim Carstensen,leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative.
“This deal provides a solid foundation for international action, including emissions targets, a new financial mechanism and transparent reporting and review to assess countries’performance,” said Jennifer Morgan, director of World Resources Institute’s Climate and Energy Program.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Developed and developing countries have come together to take action and there is an unprecedented commitment of climate finance....There is much further to go, including ensuring we achieve a legally binding outcome for everyone.As the British Government, our aim is, as it has always been, to ensure that the politics catches up with the science. Today we made a start but we have a long way to go.” More articles from WEE News Desk: | 
