Copenhagen Conference Reaches Agreement on Global Emissions Framework

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18 December 2009 :: staff

When US president Barack Obama arrived in Copenhagen, there was no global agreement on how to address climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, and talks were described as being “in a state of chaos”. His morning schedule of face to face meetings was reorganized so he could attend an emergency conference of key leaders. Talks were scheduled to continue through the weekend, and yet before midnight, agreement had been reached.

Key nations reached an agreement that Obama described as a “meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough” on a way forward in the effort to curb harmful carbon emissions and the environmental degradation associated with their effect on climate. A US spokesperson said the deal marked an “historic step forward” in shaping a global response to the climate crisis, and Pres. Obama himself said while the US, China, India, Brazil and South Africa, had “agreed to set a mitigation target to limit warming to no more than 2ºC and, importantly, to take action to meet this objective”, the deal was insufficient and there would still be “much further to go”.

The special agreement brings key states together, but a final draft has not been approved by the entire conference. It is unclear whether there will be further negotiations and/or any final vote on Saturday, but the “meaningful agreement” among key nations does need to be expanded and approved by the conference if Copenhagen is to be a success.

The UK executive director for Greenpeace, the environmental watchdog and campaign group said “It is now evident that beating global warming will require a radically different model of politics than the one on display here in Copenhagen.” While pressure groups had hoped for a binding protocol that sets specific targets and a global framework for reducing emissions year on year, the Copenhagen Accord that has reportedly been reached will commit the leading economic powers to establishing that very goal, for the first time in history.

The conference has also produced a UN plan for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), which will create a transparent network of funding schemes to help poor nations prevent deforestation and conserve the world’s great rainforests. The depletion of forest cover harms the environment in many ways, some obvious, some more complex and subtle, but it also contributes to climate destabilization in a number of ways, reducing the planet’s capacity to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide and contributing to desertification, runoff and the depletion of watersheds and green growth patterns.

As reported by Winnipeg-based CTV:

Earlier Friday, Obama arrived in Copenhagen, where he attended an emergency meeting with 19 other leaders. Obama arrived to drive a deal, which had eluded leaders throughout the week.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were among the attendees. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao chose not to attend the high-level meeting, sending an envoy in his place.

There had been reports the Chinese delegation, including Premier Wen Jiabao, were offended by the language Obama used during his midday address, in which he noted the US was now the world’s “second” worst emitter of carbon dioxide. But Obama and Wen were to meet for an evening meeting, perhaps a private dinner, in which they would discuss the key sticking points that were keeping China from signing on to a comprehensive plan that would demand international supervision of their emissions reduction efforts.

It would seem that Pres. Obama’s presence in Copenhagen, from his tough language during the midday address, in which he warned that the delegates’ ability to find consensus and achieve a deal was in doubt, to his energetic non-stop schedule of meetings with world leaders, had the effect of helping to forge a hard-won consensus on how to proceed. This apparent display of global leadership could turn into not only a landmark on the road to major global climate action, but a significant political victory for Obama himself, who has been criticized for overextending himself on difficult issues.