Earth Equity News

U.N. Meeting in New York on Tues: The Highest Level Summit Ever Held, Offers Holds Little Hope for Copenhagen. By Neil MacFarquhar, NYTimes, September 17, 2009. "Some 100 world leaders are due to gather in New York this Tuesday for the highest level summit meeting on climate change ever convened. While virtually all of the largest developed and developing nations have made domestic commitments toward creating more efficient, renewable sources of energy to cut emissions, none want to take the lead in fighting for significant international emissions reduction targets, lest they be accused at home of selling out future jobs and economic growth. The negotiations for a new climate change agreement to be signed in Copenhagen in December are badly stalled. With the agreement running more than 200 pages -- including what negotiators estimate are a couple of thousand brackets denoting points of differences -- diplomats and negotiators fear that the document is too unwieldy to garner a consensus in the coming months. In convening the meeting, the United Nations is hoping that collectively the leaders can summon the will to overcome narrow national interests and give the negotiators the marching orders needed to cut at least the outline of a deal."