Copenhagen Talks Strategy to Focus on Monitoring Requirements

Sources told National Journal that negotiators at the Copenhagen climate change talks next month might pursue a relatively modest treaty on GHG emissions limits that would include monitoring requirements but not measures to produce reductions. The approach would draw back from the effort to reach wide-ranging deals on emissions goals, aid to developing countries, and control of the funds providing that aid.

Frank Loy, head of climate policy at the U.S. Department of State during the Clinton administration, said President Obama's upcoming trip to China could produce a climate change agreement and give Congress new reasons to agree to a treaty. Loy was quoted as saying: "You don't need to have a big agreement, but you do have to have a lot of action to show you are not dead in the water."

Various sources downplayed expectations for Copenhagen and pointed to the talks as only part of a broader process for reaching a climate agreement. They said the talks needed to produce a substantial agreement with specifics on principles and the framework for further talks, without advancing beyond the limits of what the U.S. and others will support.