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Climate Change Plan Treaty - Will Be Signed Or Not?
Posted by naturelover,
10 February 2010
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40 views
Right from the time of Kyoto Protocol, the climate change and its signing of controlling the devastation causing to the environment is going on for a quite long time without any real agreements being signed by major countries.
Is the American led Copenhagen Accord is in the interest of the world to ask for signatories of major countries to sign across the line?
via Bloomberg - Copenhagen Accord
Is the American led Copenhagen Accord is in the interest of the world to ask for signatories of major countries to sign across the line?
Quote
China, India Seek to Limit Climate Plan, Stern Says
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- China, India, South Africa and Brazil seek to “limit the impact” of the U.S.-led Copenhagen Accord by emphasizing that the climate change deal isn’t legally binding, U.S. negotiator Todd Stern said today.
President Barack Obama and leaders of the four countries crafted the Copenhagen agreement to combat climate change in December after United Nations talks there broke down over divisions between developed and developing nations.
The U.S. and Europe back calls to make the plan a legally binding agreement to serve as a framework for an international treaty to curb greenhouse gases. India’s environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, has said the Copenhagen Accord should be part of a larger two-track negotiating process rather than a “stand- alone document.”
“It makes no sense to suggest that it should play second fiddle to a negotiator-level text that generated wide disagreement in Copenhagen,” Stern said today in Washington.
The Copenhagen Accord is the first climate-protection agreement that contains numerical goals for the world’s biggest greenhouse-gas emitters. Each participating country proposed its own, voluntary target to limit carbon pollution.
Countries shouldn’t now “cherry pick” parts of the agreement they like and scrap the broader plan, which represents a “fair balance,” Stern said.
Obama’s Talks
The plan was reached in the Danish capital after Obama had talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and South African President Jacob Zuma. Obama said at the time the accord would fall short of the expectations of many and that it will be difficult to turn it into a legally binding treaty in the next year.
“Only history will tell us” if the accord succeeds or fails, said John Podesta, president of the Center for American Progress, a Washington research group that hosted an event with Stern today.
Stern said the accord is “more sketch than painting,” though it shows a “way forward” with the negotiations. Ninety nations so far have said they want to associate with the plan, he said.
Talks for a new treaty stumbled last year over aid for developing countries, pollution-reduction goals and how to verify nations’ pledges to cut emissions.
The U.S. entered the UN discussions in Denmark at a disadvantage because Congress has yet to pass legislation capping emissions. The lack of guidance from the Senate, which must approve treaties, left Obama’s officials without clear negotiating guidelines.
Stern today said Congress “must” pass legislation this year.
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- China, India, South Africa and Brazil seek to “limit the impact” of the U.S.-led Copenhagen Accord by emphasizing that the climate change deal isn’t legally binding, U.S. negotiator Todd Stern said today.
President Barack Obama and leaders of the four countries crafted the Copenhagen agreement to combat climate change in December after United Nations talks there broke down over divisions between developed and developing nations.
The U.S. and Europe back calls to make the plan a legally binding agreement to serve as a framework for an international treaty to curb greenhouse gases. India’s environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, has said the Copenhagen Accord should be part of a larger two-track negotiating process rather than a “stand- alone document.”
“It makes no sense to suggest that it should play second fiddle to a negotiator-level text that generated wide disagreement in Copenhagen,” Stern said today in Washington.
The Copenhagen Accord is the first climate-protection agreement that contains numerical goals for the world’s biggest greenhouse-gas emitters. Each participating country proposed its own, voluntary target to limit carbon pollution.
Countries shouldn’t now “cherry pick” parts of the agreement they like and scrap the broader plan, which represents a “fair balance,” Stern said.
Obama’s Talks
The plan was reached in the Danish capital after Obama had talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and South African President Jacob Zuma. Obama said at the time the accord would fall short of the expectations of many and that it will be difficult to turn it into a legally binding treaty in the next year.
“Only history will tell us” if the accord succeeds or fails, said John Podesta, president of the Center for American Progress, a Washington research group that hosted an event with Stern today.
Stern said the accord is “more sketch than painting,” though it shows a “way forward” with the negotiations. Ninety nations so far have said they want to associate with the plan, he said.
Talks for a new treaty stumbled last year over aid for developing countries, pollution-reduction goals and how to verify nations’ pledges to cut emissions.
The U.S. entered the UN discussions in Denmark at a disadvantage because Congress has yet to pass legislation capping emissions. The lack of guidance from the Senate, which must approve treaties, left Obama’s officials without clear negotiating guidelines.
Stern today said Congress “must” pass legislation this year.
via Bloomberg - Copenhagen Accord
