This just came in over my transom. Ban Ki Moon’s official statement on the Copenhagen Accord, issued yesterday afternoon.
The Secretary-General welcomes the outcome of the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 5th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. He thanks the Government of Denmark for hosting the conference and leading the negotiations to a successful conclusions with substantive outcomes.
The collected decisions of the Parties fulfil in large part the benchmarks for success laid down at the September 2009 Summit on Climate Change at United Nations headquarters. The Secretary-General particularly appreciates the many Heads of States and Government who have demonstrated their global political leadership to make this deal possible.
Among the decisions of the Conference, the Copenhagen Accord marks a significant step forward in negotiations for the first truly global agreement that can limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support adaptation for the most vulnerable and help to establish a new era of environmentally sustainable growth.
Through the Accord, countries agreed to work toward a common, long-term goal to limit global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius. Developed countries have committed to establish and implement targets for greenhouse gas emissions, and a number of developing countries, including major emerging economies, have agreed to implement nationally appropriate mitigation actions and communicatem their efforts every two years.
Countries also agreed on the importance of acting to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and also agreed to provide comprehensive support to the most vulnerable to cope with climate change. To support these priorities, countries pledged up to thirty billion dollars a year between 2010 and 2012 to be disbursed through a Copenhagen Green Climate Fund. Countries also backed the goal of mobilizing $100 billion dollars a year by 2020 for developing countries.
In the coming months the Secretary-General will work with Member States to ensure that the commitments enshrined in the Copenhagen Accord can be converted into a global legally binding treaty as soon as possible in 2010.