Amid the chaos and confusion of frantic negotiations on the final night of the summit, what kind of deal actually emerged?So what's the deal?The Copenhagen Accord, as it was named last night, makes reference to the need to keep temperature rises to no more than 2C and says rich countries will commit to cutting greenhouse gases and developing nations will take steps to limit the growth of their emissions – but sets no targets.Under the accord, countries will set out their pledges for the action they plan to take to tackle climate change, 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 for poor countries to help them fight climate change, and a long term funding package worth $100bn a year by 2020.There are also references to the importance of reducing de
forestation and efforts to give poor countries access to technology that helps them
go green.Is it what we expected?Originally, the plan was for the Copenhagen talks to deliver a comprehensive, legally-binding international deal to tackle climate change. But it has been clear for some time that such an agreement would not materialise at these talks.In the immediate run-up to the negotiations, it was hoped a political agreement could be reached, which could then be turned into a legal treaty next year.We did come out of the talks with a political agreement drawn up by leaders and which was eventually accepted by the conference of more than 190 countries this morning, but there are some major holes in the deal.So what's missing?Some key things. Firstly there is no mention of any long term global emissions cut targets – although the 50% reduction by 2050, which was dropped at the last minute, is what would be needed to meet the 2C temperature cap still referred to in the deal. There is no target, either, for the long term cuts developed countries must make.Perhaps more significant, ...
Try our segmented RSS Feeds
