As rich and poor countries continue to hammer out an agreement at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, today turned out to be a very dramatic one, as protesters tried to disrupt the meetings, while police beat them back. Activists are protesting the lack of progress on the new climate deal, as well as, restrictions on their access to talks.
Later on Wednesday too, the negotiating process was halted abruptly as delegates wanted more time to consult on the basis for further talks.
“The cable car has made an unexpected stop,” said Yvo de Boer, the UN’s top climate official at a press briefing Wednesday evening.
The Danish Conference presidency had anticipated that by Wednesday a text on which consensus might have been forged would have been tabled. But Yvo de Boer said on Wednesday evening he was not aware that the Danish text had been presented.
The climate conference so far have been quite contentious, pitting poor countries against rich.
The fundamental issues that have proved difficult to reach agreement on relate to the size of emissions cuts to be undertaken by developed nations; how finance should be raised and disbursed in support of developing countries; and most fundamentally, whether a deal should aim to keep the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius or 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, the Chinese have complained that the process chosen by the Danish hosts has “lacked transparency” and other developing country delegations have complained that rewritten texts are being pushed through without proper consultation.
One bright spot today–African countries scaled back their expectations in terms of the level of funding in return for more reliable funding.
At this juncture, it is not clear whether one or more texts would be presented on which future negotiations would take place at the conference. Given the short lead time before the conference ends, some are already expressing disappointment with the outcomes, suggesting that it is a failure.
Some 120 world leaders are expected to be in Copenhagen at the Bella Center for final negotiations over the next two days, just prior to the conclusion of the conference.
“It is still possible to reach a real success,” Yvo de Boer said, but there are “a number of unsolved issues” left for heads of state and government to resolve at their summit on Thursday and Friday.
Source: en.cop15.dk/
