Pascal Fletcher and Adrian Croft, Reuters 27 Nov 09;
PORT OF SPAIN (Reuters) - World leaders on Friday rallied to a diplomatic offensive to forge a U.N. climate deal in Copenhagen next month and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said an agreement was "within reach".
Ban, and Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen who will host the December 7-18 U.N. climate talks, hailed what they portrayed as a growing international momentum toward a pact to curb greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming.
"Our common goal is to achieve a firm foundation for a legally binding climate treaty as early as possible in 2010. I am confident that we are on track to do this," Ban told a summit of Commonwealth leaders in Trinidad and Tobago.
"Each week brings new commitments and pledges -- from industrialized countries, emerging economies and developing countries alike," he added.
"An agreement is within reach ... We must seal a deal in Copenhagen," Ban said. He, Rasmussen and French President Nicloas Sarkozy attended the summit of the 53-nation Commonwealth as special guests to lobby on Friday for international consensus on a climate pact.
Rasmussen said Denmark had received an "overwhelmingly positive" response to its invitation to world leaders to attend the talks next months. "More than 85 heads of state and government have told us they are coming to Copenhagen, and many are still positively considering," he said.
He urged major developed countries to deliver firm commitments on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and to "put figures on the table" for "up-front" financing to help poor nations combat climate change.
"The need for money on the table -- that is what we want to achieve in Copenhagen," Rasmussen told a news conference later.
A framework accord in Copenhagen would also need to set a deadline for finalizing a detailed treaty, he told Reuters.
Rasmussen and Ban welcomed an earlier proposal by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the creation of a $10 billion-a-year fund to help developing countries battle the effects of global warming. Brown said such financing should be made available as early as next year, well before any new climate deal takes effect.
'CANNOT WAIT UNTIL 2013'
"We face a climate emergency: we cannot wait until 2013 to begin taking action," Brown said.
Sarkozy, who called for an "ambitious global accord" on climate, also made a similar proposal for what Rasmussen termed a "Copenhagen launch fund" that would quickly channel money to poor states to help them counter global warming and adapt their development models to requirements to reduce carbon pollution.
Most nations have given up hopes of finalizing a detailed legal climate treaty text in Copenhagen, but prospects for achieving a broad political framework pact have been brightened this week by public promises of greenhouse gas curbs by China and the United States, the world's biggest emitters.
An upbeat Rasmussen said: "A strong deal -- sealed at the leaders level -- will serve as a clear and detailed guidance for negotiators to quickly finalize a legal framework."
"Copenhagen is capable of delivering the turning point we all want ... From here on it's a matter of political will".
Ban dismissed suggestions that the Copenhagen meeting would be merely another "talk shop". "It will be a very substantive and concrete negotiating process," he told reporters.
Asked about reservations recently expressed by Canada about whether a binding detailed climate treaty was possible, Rasmussen said: "I don't think there is any contradiction between wishful thinking and realistic thinking".
'EXISTENTIAL THREAT'
The 53-nation Commonwealth group, which represents more than a quarter of the global population, bringing together wealthy nations like Britain, Canada and Australia with some of the world's smallest states, earlier launched a diplomatic push to drum up momentum for a comprehensive climate agreement.
"On this, the eve of the U.N. Copenhagen summit on climate change, the Commonwealth has an opportunity to lead once more," Britain's Queen Elizabeth, who heads the group comprising mostly former British colonies, said at the summit opening.
Nearly half of the Commonwealth's members are small island states which are directly threatened by rising sea levels caused by global warming, and developing nations are appealing for financial aid from rich governments to help them counter climate change and reduce carbon pollution.
The accord the United Nations is aiming for in Copenhagen would cover tougher emissions targets, climate financing for poorer nations and transfer of clean-energy technology.
The Commonwealth is putting at the forefront of the climate debate the cases of tiny island states like the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and Tuvalu and Kiribati in the Pacific, whose existence would be threatened by rises in ocean levels.
Rasmussen said these faced "immediate existential threat" and "cannot afford the luxury of a failure in Copenhagen".
The climate treaty, now expected to be adopted as a final text only next year, will replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.
(Additional reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Over 85 leaders to attend climate talks
Reuters 27 Nov 09;
PORT OF SPAIN (Reuters) - U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen next month can be a turning point in the world's fight against global warming, Denmark's prime minister said on Friday, adding that more than 85 heads of state and government had already said they would attend.
Addressing a summit of Commonwealth leaders in Trinidad and Tobago, Lars Lokke Rasmussen urged major developed countries to deliver firm commitments on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and to "put figures on the table" for "up-front" financing to help poorer nations tackle the threat of climate change.
He said Denmark had received an "overwhelmingly positive" response to its invitation to world leaders to attend the December 7-18 discussions in the Danish capital.
"More than 85 heads of state and government have told us they are coming to Copenhagen, and many are still positively considering," Rasmussen told the Commonwealth meeting, speaking as an invited guest.
The 53-nation Commonwealth group, which represents more than a quarter of the world's population, launched a diplomatic push on Friday to drum up momentum for a comprehensive climate deal in Copenhagen in 10 days' time.
"Copenhagen is capable of delivering the turning point we all want. We know the problem. We know the solutions. We know what we need to do. From here on it's a matter of political will," Rasmussen said.
"A strong deal -- sealed at the leaders level -- will serve as a clear and detailed guidance for negotiators to quickly finalize a legal framework. The stronger the deal, the faster we reach our end goal," he added.
Most nations have given up hopes of agreeing to a final legal treaty text in Copenhagen, but prospects for achieving a broad political pact have been brightened this week by public promises of greenhouse gas curbs by China and the United States, the world's biggest emitters.
(Reporting by Pascal Fletcher; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
UN chief urges deal at Copenhagen
BBC News 27 Nov 09;
The United Nations chief has urged world leaders to "seal a deal" on climate change when they meet in Copenhagen next month.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he believed an agreement was in sight, with recent moves by some countries a positive step to cutting emissions.
Danish PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he hoped to see "money on the table" at the UN conference he will host.
Both spoke at a Commonwealth meeting also focusing on climate change.
The Copenhagen summit, from 7-18 December, will see more than 85 national leaders gather to discuss climate change.
"Our common goal is to achieve a firm foundation for a legally binding climate treaty as early as possible in 2010," Mr Ban told the Commonwealth leaders at their summit in Trinidad and Tobago where he was a guest.
"An agreement is within reach.
"We must seal a deal in Copenhagen," he said.
Mr Rasmussen urged developed countries to "put figures on the table" to help poor nations combat climate change.
"The need for money on the table - that is what we want to achieve in Copenhagen," he said.
Their comments came after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, also a guest at the Commonwealth meeting, proposed a multi-billion-dollar fund to help developing nations deal with climate change.
Mr Brown said the $10bn (£6bn) fund should also be used to help developing nations cut greenhouse gas emissions.
"We face a climate emergency: we cannot wait until 2013 to begin taking action," Mr Brown said.
Many Commonwealth members are island states threatened by rising sea levels.
Mr Rasmussen was optimistic about a deal being struck at Copenhagen, saying the summit was "capable of delivering the turning point we all want".
The climate treaty, now expected to be adopted as a final text only next year, will replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.
Mr Brown said half of the $10bn fund should go towards helping developing nations reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and the other half towards helping them adapt to climate change.
The first cash would be made available next year, he said, before any emissions deal could take effect.
He is offering $800m from the UK over three years, money that has already been budgeted for.
"What I feel the developing countries need to know is that we are absolutely serious that we would start now," he said, quoted by Reuters news agency.
In separate remarks quoted by AFP news agency, Mr Sarkozy proposed a funding programme of $10bn a year in the years 2010-12, and an "ambitious mechanism" for payments beyond those years.
He did not indicate how much France was prepared to contribute.
The Commonwealth's 53 nations comprise nearly two billion people, a third of the planet's population.
