“A Meaningful and Unprecedented Breakthrough in Copenhagen”
Copenhagen has been the epicenter of intense negotiations for the past two weeks about the necessity for global action to address the threat of climate change. President Obama arrived in Denmark on Friday. After remarks at the morning plenary session and several bilateral meetings, the President helped forge a last-minute agreement with China, India, South Africa and Brazil that now forms the basis of the Copenhagen Accord.
During a press conference Friday night (Copenhagen time), President Obama called the Accord “a meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough” because “for the first time in history all major economies have come together to accept their responsibility to take action to confront the threat of climate change.” That fact was echoed by the United Nations’ top climate official, Yvo de Boer, who told the Washington Post the Accord was "politically incredibly significant," because so many world leaders personally participated in drafting it. The Accord is not a binding agreement – and in the President’s own words, “we know that this progress alone is not enough” – but it does represent a significant step forward.
The talks hinged on three major issues – transparency (clear goals, monitoring and reporting), mitigation (a commitment to limit a rise in the Earth’s temperature) and financing (to help poorer nations adapt to climate change). From the New York Times:
The accord provides a system for monitoring and reporting progress toward those national pollution-reduction goals, a compromise on an issue over which China bargained hard. It calls for hundreds of billions of dollars to flow from wealthy nations to those countries most vulnerable to a changing climate. And it sets a goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2050, implying deep cuts in climate-altering emissions over the next four decades.
Grist has a round up of the provisions included in the Accord:
1. A commitment by developed nations to invest billion over the next three years to help developing nations adapt to climate change and pursue clean energy development.
2. A provisional commitment by developed nations to develop a long-term 0 billion global fund by 2020 to assist developing nations in responding to climate change and become part of the clean energy economic transition.
3. A goal to pursue emissions reductions that are sufficient to keep the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius.
4. Pledges by nations to commit to concrete emissions reductions, though the specific levels of reduction were not set.
5. A general goal to subject participating countries to international review of their progress under the accord.
6. Diplomatic space for the United States and China to work together to solve climate change.
7. A commitment to complete an assessment of the effectiveness of the accord in reducing emissions by the end of 2015.
According to the New York Times, Senator John Kerry (MA), the lead author of clean energy and climate legislation in the Senate, said the Accord would drive Congress to pass climate change legislation early next year. “This can be a catalyzing moment,” he said Friday. “President Obama’s hands-on engagement broke through the bickering and sets the stage for a final deal and for Senate passage this spring of major legislation at home.”
Read President Obama’s full remarks . . .
Copenhagen has been the epicenter of intense negotiations for the past two weeks about the necessity for global action to address the threat of climate change. President Obama arrived in Denmark on Friday. After remarks at the morning plenary session and several bilateral meetings, the President helped forge a last-minute agreement with China, India, South Africa and Brazil that now forms the basis of the Copenhagen Accord.
During a press conference Friday night (Copenhagen time), President Obama called the Accord “a meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough” because “for the first time in history all major economies have come together to accept their responsibility to take action to confront the threat of climate change.” That fact was echoed by the United Nations’ top climate official, Yvo de Boer, who told the Washington Post the Accord was "politically incredibly significant," because so many world leaders personally participated in drafting it. The Accord is not a binding agreement – and in the President’s own words, “we know that this progress alone is not enough” – but it does represent a significant step forward.
The talks hinged on three major issues – transparency (clear goals, monitoring and reporting), mitigation (a commitment to limit a rise in the Earth’s temperature) and financing (to help poorer nations adapt to climate change). From the New York Times:
The accord provides a system for monitoring and reporting progress toward those national pollution-reduction goals, a compromise on an issue over which China bargained hard. It calls for hundreds of billions of dollars to flow from wealthy nations to those countries most vulnerable to a changing climate. And it sets a goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2050, implying deep cuts in climate-altering emissions over the next four decades.
Grist has a round up of the provisions included in the Accord:
1. A commitment by developed nations to invest billion over the next three years to help developing nations adapt to climate change and pursue clean energy development.
2. A provisional commitment by developed nations to develop a long-term 0 billion global fund by 2020 to assist developing nations in responding to climate change and become part of the clean energy economic transition.
3. A goal to pursue emissions reductions that are sufficient to keep the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius.
4. Pledges by nations to commit to concrete emissions reductions, though the specific levels of reduction were not set.
5. A general goal to subject participating countries to international review of their progress under the accord.
6. Diplomatic space for the United States and China to work together to solve climate change.
7. A commitment to complete an assessment of the effectiveness of the accord in reducing emissions by the end of 2015.
According to the New York Times, Senator John Kerry (MA), the lead author of clean energy and climate legislation in the Senate, said the Accord would drive Congress to pass climate change legislation early next year. “This can be a catalyzing moment,” he said Friday. “President Obama’s hands-on engagement broke through the bickering and sets the stage for a final deal and for Senate passage this spring of major legislation at home.”