Earth Equity News

U.N. Conference Concludes with Grudging Accord. By Andrew C. Revkin and John M. Broder, NYTimes, December 20, 2009. "After two weeks of delays, theatrics and last-minute deal-making, the United Nations climate change talks concluded here early Saturday morning with a grudging agreement... to a pact [The Copenhagen Accord, PDF, 5 pp] shaped by five major nations... Ultimately, all but a handful of countries -- Venezuela, Cuba, Sudan and Saudi Arabia among them -- went along with the decision to accept the document...But many delegates of the 193 countries that had gathered here left Copenhagen in a sour mood, disappointed that the pact lacked so many elements they considered crucial, including firm targets for mid- or long-term reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and a deadline for concluding a binding treaty next year. Even President Obama, a principal force behind the final deal, said the accord would take only a modest step toward healing the Earth's fragile atmosphere. Many participants also said that the chaos and contentiousness of the talks may signal the end of reliance on a process that for almost two decades had been viewed as the best approach to tackling global warming: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC] and a series of 15 conventions following a 1992 climate summit meeting in Rio de Janeiro...

"The deal worked out in Copenhagen is a political agreement forged by major emitters to curb greenhouse gases, to help developing nations build clean-energy economies and to send money flowing to cushion the effects of climate change on vulnerable states. But even if countries live up to their commitments on emissions, a stark gap remains -- measured in tens of billions of tons of projected flows of carbon dioxide -- between nations' combined pledges and what would be required to reliably avert the risks of disruptive changes in rainfall and drought, ecosystems and polar ice cover from global warming, scientists say. The chances of success substantially hinge on whether Mr. Obama can fulfill his promises to reduce American greenhouse gas emissions and raise tens of billions of dollars to help other countries deal with global warming. That in turn depends in large part on whether Congress takes action on a bill that puts a price on carbon and devotes a large part of the proceeds to foreign aid. And that is no sure thing...

"[At the 11th hour,] the White House set up an evening meeting between Mr. Obama and Premier Wen Jiabao of China. It also set up a separate meeting with Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, and Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister. The approval of those was needed to seal any climate deal. Shortly before the appointed time of the meeting with Mr. Wen, Denis McDonough, the national security council chief of staff, and Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, arrived and were startled to find the Chinese prime minister already meeting with the leaders of the three other countries. They alerted Mr. Obama and he rushed down to the site of the meeting. 'Mr. Premier, are you ready to see me?' Mr. Obama called from the doorway... Despite its tense start, the meeting led to an accord that settled a number of issues, including a compromise on wording on the issue of monitoring and verification that satisfied Mr. Wen. Mr. Obama then took the proposed text to a group of European nations whose representatives grumbled but signed off." Editor's Note: With the completion of his coverage of Copenhagen, Andy Revkin has left the NYTimes as a lead reporter on climate issues. His reporting will be missed.