President Obama plans to attend the United Nations-led climate change summit in Denmark en route to Sweden to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the Associated Press reported. The White House said Nov. 25 that at Copenhagen, Obama would "commit the United States to specific targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions" by about 17 percent below 2005 levels, the Washington Post wrote.
Any thought that the summit might result in a binding agreement on GHG reductions--because of Obama's pledge, despite the lack of Senate backing--was overtaken by a surprise summit meeting between leaders from Brazil, China, India and South Africa in Beijing, China, on Nov. 28. The four nations agreed to walk out of the summit if discussion of mandatory GHG cuts arise, the Hindustan Times reported.
Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh was quoted as saying: "We'll not exit in isolation. We will coordinate our exit if any of the non-negotiables is violated. This is going to be a collective decision." During the meeting in Beijing, China proffered a 10-page negotiation strategy. After discussion, the leaders agreed on a joint strategy.
The Times wrote that Ramesh "emphasized the non-negotiables for India include rejecting the concept of a peak year before emissions decline. Actions to mitigate climate change impact that are not supported by global finance and technology will not be subject to global measurement, reporting and verification. They also agreed to reject an agreement that does not reject using climate change as a trade barrier."
Separately, the BBC reported that the U.K. had agreed to help finance a "Copenhagen Launch Fund" planned to reach $10 billion annually by 2012. "Fast start funding" would target adaptive measures primarily for island-nations most vulnerable to rising sea levels. U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that half the funds "should go towards helping developing nations reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and the other half towards helping them adapt to climate change," wrote the BBC.
- Related stories also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal (Nov. 28) and Wall Street Journal (Nov. 27), and the New York Times Dot Earth blog.
