UN and UK raise doubts over Copenhagen climate deal

6 November 2009

The United Nations (UN) and UK government have raised doubts as to whether a climate deal will be reached between world leaders at the climate change conference in Copenhagen this December, without further clarification on emissions reduction targets.

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), has expressed reservations about reaching a climate deal unless two key issues of mid-term emission reduction targets of developed countries and finance that would allow developing countries to limit emissions growth are addressed, on which the UNFCCC claim little progress was made at the pre-Copenhagen Barcelona negotiations.

UNFCCC’s Yvo de Boer said, ‘Without these two pieces of the puzzle in place, we will not have a deal in Copenhagen.

‘So leadership at the highest level is required to unlock the pieces,’ he added.

UK Chancellor Alistair Darling also expressed doubts about whether world leaders will reach a climate deal at the Copenhagen conference, in his commentary in The Independent.

Chancellor Alistair Darling said, ‘The barriers to agreement on climate finance remain substantial.

‘Even if countries agree the levels of finance, few will want to hand over money if they lack confidence in the means of delivering it,’ he added.

According to the UNFCCC, developed countries would need to provide fast-track funding of at least €10bn to enable developing countries to immediately develop low emission growth and adaptation strategies and to build internal capacity. The UNFCCC has said that world leaders need to articulate clearer commitments in order for a climate deal to be reached in December.

Speaking at the Barcelona talks, de Boer, said, ‘I look to industrialised nations for clarity on the amount of short and long-term finance they will commit.

‘Negotiators must deliver a final text at Copenhagen which presents a strong, functioning architecture to kick start rapid action in the developing world,’ he said.

According to the Financial Times, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has also urged world leaders to join the December climate discussions in Copenhagen in order to spur action to reduce greenhouse emissions.

At the New York summit earlier this year, heads of state and government pledged to clinch a deal in Copenhagen that provides clarity on emission reduction targets of industrialised countries and nationally appropriate mitigation actions by developing countries.

More than 4,500 participants, including delegates from 181 countries, took part in the Barcelona UN climate change talks. At the Barcelona talks, progress was made on adaptation, technology cooperation, reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries and mechanisms to disburse funds for developing countries, according to the UNFCCC.

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Tags: policy

This story was published on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 3:10 pm and is filed under Europe, North America, energy efficiency, policy. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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