With only days remaining until diplomats are due to arrive in Tianjin for the final round of climate negotiations before the Cancun summit, scientists have provided a grim reminder of how little progress governments have made in addressing the threat of climate change.
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.
After a tumultuous day of negotiations, leaders in Copenhagen reached a climate deal late Friday. The agreement falls short of many negotiators' expectations and hopes, but it salvages the conference and lays the foundation for a binding treaty somewhere down the line.
From John Anthony Energy and Climate Communications Director, UN Foundation, writing from Copenhagen
UN climate negotiations have reached a critical juncture after 10 days of often fractious deliberations.
I'm sure Lindsay, Aaron or Abhishek will have more on this later, but I wanted to flag Secretary Clinton's big announcement that the United States will help set up a $100 billion fund to help poor countries adapt to the consequences of climate change and help developing countries grow in non-carbon intensive ways. This has always been an important part of the international diplomatic puzzle.
Tempers flared in Copenhagen today as protesters were beaten back by police outside the Bella Center, where the international climate talks were taking place. The police used tear gas to subdue the protests, and they arrested around 250 people.
The international climate talks in Copenhagen went on life support this morning when representatives of developing nations staged a temporary boycott of the conference, but leaders worked quickly to resuscitate the negotiations.
The dispute once again centered on dissatisfaction among developing countries with the way the world's major economies were handling the negotiating process -- particularly the threat that they might scrap the Kyoto Protocol, which imposes carbon emissions limits on wealthy nations while exempting poorer ones.
Emotions are running high inside and outside the Bella Center in Copenhagen as the UN climate summit enters its second week.
