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The
Copenhagen Accord on Climate Change
A preliminary non-legally binding
agreement now being called the "Copenhagen Accord" was reached
between nations at the UN Climate change Convention in Copenhagen,
2009. The accord has been dogged not perfect by many nations and
climate change stakeholders but considered as a first step to
further discussions.
What is in the "Accord"? and Were the
conference objectives met? What is the way forward? These points
outlined below. A copy of the accord can be downloaded at the end of
this article.
What is in the Accord?
In point form the Copenhagen accord
contains the following:
-
Countries agreed to the need to
keep temperature rises to no more than 2C;
-
Rich countries will commit to
cutting greenhouse gases but sets no targets;
-
Developing nations will take steps
to limit the growth of their emissions; but sets no targets.
-
Countries will set out their pledges for the action they plan to
take to tackle in an appendix to the document, and will
provide information to other nations on their progress.
-
There are promises of short term finance to the
tune of $10bn a year over three years (2010, 2011 and
2012) and a long term funding package worth $100bn a
year by 2020, for poor countries to help them fight climate
change;
-
All the core carbon cut numbers
50% by 2050 or 80% by 2050 being mentioned/discussed during
negotiations leading to the summit were dropped, allegedly at
request of China but to the displeasure of the European
countries;
-
There are also references to the importance of
reducing deforestation and efforts to give poor countries access
to technology that helps them go green.
Were the Conference Objectives met?
From the reactions by the parties to the
conference, it would appear that the achievements at the conference fell
short of expectations. Originally, the plan was for the Copenhagen
talks to deliver a comprehensive, legally-binding
international deal to tackle climate change and replace Kyoto.
When negotiations prior to the conference were not accomplishing much, it
was hoped a political agreement could be reached, which could
then be turned into a legal treaty during the 2010 summit in
Mexico.
If a legally binding deal will be reached in
2010 or any time in the nearest future, some of the issues to be resolved
include:
-
Agreements on long term global emissions cut targets
(e.g. 50%
reduction by 2050), which is required to meet the 2C temperature cap
set in this interim accord;
-
Agreements on the developed
countries' individual long term emission cuts similar to the
provisions of Kyoto, otherwise the accord will not win the
confidence of the developing countries;
-
Agreements on other miscellaneous
issues such as how to deal with deforestation/afforestation,
carbon capture and storage etc under the new accord.
Copenhagen accord (pdf format) OR follow this
LINK
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