Copenhagen: Persisting Divisions Threaten Climate Negotiations

The brief walkout by Group of 77 negotiators highlighted evidence of the continued split between China and the U.S., as well as a rift between developed and developing countries, both of which appeared likely to dominate the Copenhagen talks for the rest of the week, the Wall Street Journal reported. China and the U.S. remained at odds over the U.S. demand for China to accept external monitoring of its GHG emissions levels.

The New York Times reported that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei called the issue "a matter of principle" that his country would maintain even if [it] results in an inability to reach agreement. A U.S. official said China's fears that without monitoring, the country would face tariffs on exports to the U.S., provided "their No. 1 motivation" to come to an agreement. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on negotiators to avoid a last-minute resolution that risked "having a weak deal or no deal at all" emerge from the Copenhagen talks.

Several observers predicted an accord will be achieved, but others warned that talks were proceeding too slowly. U.S. special climate envoy Todd Stern said "there are legitimate concerns" among negotiators, but "any time that's lost, it is unhelpful," the Washington Post reported. African nations warned against an effort to abandon the Kyoto Protocol.

Gustavo Silva-Chavez of the Environmental Defense Fund said their walkout was "going to anger a lot of developed countries." He was quoted as saying: "If you list them in order of priorities, the most pressing issues where developing countries want to see results are: firstly finance, secondly emissions reduction targets, third technology transfer." A USA Today/Gallup Poll released today indicated that a majority of Americans--55 percent to 38 percent--supported a binding global treaty to reduce GHG emissions.

- Related stories also appeared in Bloomberg, New York Times, Wall Street Journal (Tensions), Wall Street Journal (Obama), Xinhua, Dow Jones Newswires (UK), Dow Jones Newswires (IEA), Greenwire via the New York Times, Reuters, and Wall Street Journal Environmental Capital blog.