Yesterday’s disappointing climate change summit at UN headquarters in New York is raising questions about what can be achieved in Copenhagen in December. Expectations are shrinking.
The meeting, billed as the highest-level summit on climate ever convened, brought together more than 100 heads of government and dignitaries.
It was intended to give a boost to negotiations for a new deal on reducing emissions and, in particular, to break the deadlock between leading developed nations and leading developing nations – which in practice means the US and China.
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Key players
Accordingly, the two figures who generated the most column inches were presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao.
Though eloquent, did little more than underline American actions already under way, such as increasing investment in renewable energy and research into carbon capture.
Obama said once again that the US could do nothing if developing nations didn’t take steps towards reducing their own emissions. Given hopes that the summit would break that deadlock, this was almost shocking.
Hu’s speech was seized on as , particularly his statement that developing nations “by a notable margin by 2020 from the 2005 level”. This is what is known as increasing “carbon efficiency”, something for which China has already set goals. There are no goals for cutting carbon emissions.
Desperate for a deal
“Hu repeated what China has already been doing in terms of carbon intensity, renewables, forestry and R&D, says , China director at the , a coalition of government and business leaders. “I can’t see anything new, but that everyone wants a deal in Copenhagen is clear.”
Unfortunately, “everyone” may not want a deal badly enough.
In March, Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and leader of the negotiations, said legislation was not going to be passed in Copenhagen but would be well advanced.
In August, de Boer warned that the rate at which negotiations were moving meant “we’re not going to make it” to a global deal in December. Two weeks ago he said he and yesterday .
But with less than 12 weeks before the Copenhagen conference opens, . Some political leaders have begun talking about a “political declaration”. If that is the only outcome, it will be an embarrassment for everyone involved.
