UN climate summit ends with 'work to do'

Dec 19, 2009, 16:55 GMT

Copenhagen - A key UN climate summit ended Saturday with 'a kernel of a long-term response to climate change,' Yvo de Boer, the United Nations climate chief said.

De Boer said 'a great deal of energy was invested,' after a stormy, overnight plenary session reached a decision to acknowledge the compromise deal brokered Friday by the United States and China.

The Copenhagen Accord was 'an indication of the willingness to move forward,' de Boer said, adding 'we have work to do on the road to Mexico' where the next UN climate summit is due at the end of 2010 aimed at securing a legally binding treaty.

He noted that the accord did not pin down specific emissions cuts by industrialized countries or how 30 billion dollars in pledges to help poor countries threatened by the ravage of climate change in 2010-2012 would be paid.

Pressure group Greenpeace described the outcome as a 'huge missed opportunity' due to the lack of a legally binding agreement.

'It is not what everyone has hoped for but decision is an essential beginning,' UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.

Even supporters of the accord conceded that it was insufficient to slow global warming, since it contains no improved targets for rich nations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and does not commit anyone to legally binding cuts.

The document mentioned calls by scientists to limit global warming to within 2 degrees centigrade against pre-industrial levels.

Another sticking point centred on how much right third countries should have to inspect each other's greenhouse-gas emission claims. The accord said inspections would take place under 'clearly defined guidelines that will ensure that national sovereignty is respected.'

'Well meant but half-hearted pledges to protect our planet from dangerous climate change are simply not sufficient,' said Kim Carstensen, who heads WWF's Global Climate Initiative.

Oxfam International's Robert Bailey said it was 'shameful that after two years of blood, sweat and tears, governments didn't finish the marathon on time.'

When proceedings adjourned earlier Saturday, host country Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen handed over the gavel, citing fatigue after working nonstop for 28 hours.

The numerous interventions and procedural wrangling added an extra day to the scheduled 12-day summit that opened December 7.

'I am satisfied, we achieved a result,' Rasmussen told Danish media, adding that countries that sign the accord agree with it.

Delegates had during interventions overnight threatened to reject the accord, and some blasted Rasmussen's handling of the procedures.

Under conference rules decisions by the 193 participating countries are made by consensus. It was left open to each country to sign on to the accord.

A Saudi Arabia representative said 'this has been without exception the worst plenary I have ever experienced.'

If the accord had fallen through, pledges of funds to help poor countries cope with effects of climate change - including 30 billion dollars for 2010-2012 - would not have become operational.

The closed nature of the talks on the accord angered many delegates, particularly the leftist Latin America nations of Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba.

Rifts were also clear between developing countries. During the plenary session, Venezuela's delegate said 'we will not sell our principles even for 30 billion dollars.'

Mohammad Nashed, president of the Maldives, one of the low-lying island nations threatened by rising sea levels, urged delegates to 'keep the document alive,' saying it offered 'many life lines.'

US President Barack Obama, speaking on his departure from the Danish capital Friday, described the deal as 'a meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough.'