Saturday, December 19, 2009

Copenhagen - First assesment

The meeting has concluded in Copenhagen.  On first glance at the 'accord' that summit 'took note of' it looks to be an agreement that is actually workable. 

It sounds as though the deal was unacceptable to the G-77, the UN group of least developed countries which was being led at the negotiations by Sudan. For that reason, the UN was not in full agreement.  The G77 revolt was being pushed forward by leaders like Chavez from Venezuela and Mugabe from Zimbabwe

It seems to me that having an agreement that all the developed countries, plus the major developing countires can come together on is far more important than having agreement that every nation in the UN.  Honestly, it is not that important to have the entire world on board.  If an agreement includes all of th G20, then 80% of the world's emissions are covered.  Why should we bow to pressure from Mugabe and Chavez?  They were only orchestrating a shakedown of the US and Europe anyway, and their nation's emissions are not significant enough to warrent their ability to block. 

There seems to be little agreement on when to come back to Copenhagen for a meeting that would seal a deal.  The Copenhagen Accord will the end of the flawed UN process. But, it may also mark the beginning of a process that will actually work to reduce emissions and prevent dangerous global warming. 

1 comment: