Climate pact put on hold [View All]

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http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/no-formal-deal-in-copenhagen-leaders-say/

World leaders, clearly trying to limit political damage given the lack of progress in climate-treaty talks, made it next to official that no new binding accord would emerge in Copenhagen next month. Meeting with the Danish prime minister on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore, President Obama and other leaders said Copenhagen would be a steppingstone toward some final eventual accord, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had described the impending session last week. (Presumably the pressure came mainly from the two dominant players in the global greenhouse, the United States and China.)

Here’s how a senior Obama administration aide describes the situation in the Times article by Helene Cooper:

“There was an assessment by the leaders that it is unrealistic to expect a full internationally, legally binding agreement could be negotiated between now and Copenhagen, which starts in 22 days,” said Michael Froman, the deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs. “I don’t think the negotiations have proceeded in such a way that any of the leaders thought it was likely that we were going to achieve a final agreement in Copenhagen, and yet thought that it was important that Copenhagen be an important step forward, including with operational impact.”


"Given the time factor and the situation of individual countries we must, in the coming weeks, focus on what is possible and not let ourselves be distracted by what is not possible," the Danish prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told the leaders after flying in overnight for the unscheduled discussion. "The Copenhagen agreement should finally mandate continued legal negotiations and set a deadline for their conclusion."]

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