All eyes on Copenhagen
9 November 2009
OK, so we haven’t had a big climate deal breakthrough yet – but with 20-odd days left before Copenhagen, we still believe there will be twists in this story yet…
Many people felt last week’s pre-Copenhagen climate talks in Barcelona, and the weekend’s G20 finance meeting in St Andrews, were a bit of a let-down.
It’s true we didn’t get the progress we wanted, but we certainly don’t believe that’s the end of the story.
There’s a lot of negativity around, but we believe there’s still time for world leaders to reach a strong and legally binding climate deal at Copenhagen this December.
Where we are right now:
• rich nations have acknowledged the seriousness, scale and urgency of the task at hand
• they admit developed countries need to provide funds to help poorer nations cope with climate change impacts.
• they've completely failed to agree numbers and timescales
What we need:
• ambitious political direction from higher levels – ministers and heads of state – to get the process on the right track
• firm commitments from developed countries to reduce emissions – at least 40% by 2020
• binding agreements to help developing countries adapt to climate change
So what did happen at Barcelona and St Andrews?
As WWF’s head of climate change, Keith Allot, puts it: “Barcelona didn’t achieve much spectacular, but it kept the pace of slow, steady progress. The key issue now is not time, but political will.
“Politicians seem to be obsessed with saying what they cannot achieve, rather than setting a high bar for how they will save the world from catastrophic temperature rises.”
On the positive side, it was great to see Africa and the G77 nations at Barcelona being strong and clear in their demands – we hope to see more of that in Copenhagen.
There were positive noises in St Andrews at the G20 finance ministers meeting too (the G20 countries account for 80% of world trade). But again an opportunity was missed to be clear about figures and timings.
So all eyes are now firmly on Copenhagen, where the real work has to be done. A fair and legally binding climate deal must be signed there in December.
We need to increase the pressure. And we need everyone's help. Make sure you don’t miss this chance to have your say.
You can…
Vote Earth for a strong global climate deal
come and join the Wave on 5 December
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