Consensus eludes climate talks

[FarCenter]

Priscilla Jebara

On a day of long speeches in the plenary and loud protests outside, the Danish president of the U.N. climate talks here told developing countries that progress on the Kyoto Protocol is unlikely here. There may not be any post-2012 commitment of emission cuts by rich nations under the Protocol coming out of Copenhagen.

Outside, protesters and police scuffled as an attempt to break through the barricades of the Bella Centre, venue of the U.N. climate talks, was met with batons and pepper spray.

Inside, the confusion was more subtle, but still present: conference president Connie Hedegaard resigned, the high-level segment was delayed by developing country objections to a non-transparent process, and the entire draft on long term cooperative action has been placed inside the square brackets of indecision.

Negotiators worked through Tuesday night into the early hours of Wednesday, but have not succeeded in finding consensus on the most fundamental questions: by how much should greenhouse gas emissions be cut, by whom, by which date – and of course, who will pay for the cost of mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change. By Wednesday evening, the draft text was entirely enclosed in square brackets, which means none of it has been agreed upon.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh warned that the Kyoto Protocol, the only existing legal treaty which mandates emission reduction for developed nations except the U.S., is in danger. “Kyoto is in intensive care if not dead,” he said. A senior Indian negotiator says that Ms. Hedegaard told India and other major developing countries that an agreement on the second commitment period for Kyoto, starting in 2013, was unlikely here.

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