UN climate change conference at a glance

As you read this article, world leaders from 192 countries are shaking hands in Copenhagen, Denmark at the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference will last until December 18th. The goal of the conference is to establish a global, legally binding climate treaty, much like the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change. It is hoped that nations, both develoed and developing, will undertake serious carbon emission reductions in the near term, 2020, and set a course for further reducing their emissions in the long term, 2050. In order for this to happen, strong leadership is necessary from developed countries such as The United States, the world’s second largest emitter of carbon dioxide behind China.

Recently, President Barrack Obama announced that the United States would enter the climate conference with the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83% by 2050. These targets reflect the goals of the climate bill that passed through the U.S House of Representatives this past June. The bill is currently stalled in the Senate due to the health care debate. The day after the U.S announced its goal, China announced that it would enter the climate conference with the goal of reducing carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40-45% below their 2005 levels. The fact that both The United States and China announced carbon reduction goals prior to the Copenhagen conference sent a positive message to the rest of the Copenhagen conference that major progress could be made. Most industrialized countries attending the climate conference in Copenhagen have laid out a goal of reducing their own emissions by 15-23% below 1990 levels by 2020. President Obama will attend the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen on December 9, one day before he receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo,Norway.

In recent weeks, there has been a lot of skepticism surrounding the Copenhagen Climate Conference and whether or not the conference will yield any significant, legally binding climate legislation holding countries responsible for reducing the carbon emissions in the near and long term. At a recent annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Singapore of some of the world’s largest economic powers, it was announced that the Copenhagen Climate Conference would be nothing more than a glorified talking session. President Obama joined the rest of the 18 world economic leaders at the conference in saying that a global pact on cutting carbon emissions would not be reached in Copenhagen. APEC said that the Copenhagen Climate Conference would only be an interim step to any final agreement. “Even if we may not hammer out the last dots of a legally binding instrument, I do believe a political binding agreement with specific commitment to mitigation and finance provides a strong basis for immediate action in the years to come,” said Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen following the APEC meeting.

So what are world leaders hoping to accomplish this month in Copenhagen? There are six critical areas that the international agreement should focus on achieving including:

•Strong leadership from developed countries with firm and aggressive emissions reductions targets.

•Willingness of developing countries to undertake significant emissions reductions of their own emissions.

•An agreement for developed nations to provide financial support to developing nations for clean energy, deforestation reduction, and adaptation assistance projects.

•Properly designed and performance-based incentives from developed countries to encourage even greater emissions reductions.

•Economic support for adaptation to the impacts of climate change in the most vulnerable countries.

•Improve oversight to ensure that countries are attaining their emission reduction goals.

The Copenhagen Climate Conference comes at a time when public concern about global climate change is at an all time high. On October 24th, 2009, 170 counties took part in the International Day of Climate Change Action with over 5,200 individual actions taking place, the single largest display of political activism in history. The intent was to raise awareness about reducing CO2 emissions to 350 parts per million, what scientists tell us is the safe upper limit for CO2 concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere already contains 390ppm. In order to begin moving in the right direction, it is essential for world leaders to set ambitious carbon emission reductions and to enact an ambitious, legally binding climate agreement at the Copenhagen Climate Conference this December.

Scientists say that the Copenhagen Climate Conference is one of humanities last chances to prevent catastrophic destruction due to global climate change such as rising sea levels and violent tropical storms. The Earths average temperature has already risen by 1.4 degree’s Fahrenheit since 1900. Most world leaders agree that we cannot let the Earth’s average temperature rise by 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels. How much longer will the world stand idly by as the world continues to melt?. A 2006 study by scientists at the World Health Organization (WHO) determined that 154,000 people die every year from the effects of global climate change. Lets hope that world leaders get serious this month in Copenhagen.

You can follow the conference in Copenhagen at: http://en.cop15.dk/frontpage.

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Posted by editor_green on Dec 10, 2009 Filed under Green @ Green. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry