Copenhagen Accord climate pledges too weak: U.N.

Alister Doyle, Reuters 31 Mar 10;

OSLO (Reuters) - More than 110 countries have signed up to the Copenhagen Accord on fighting global warming but the United Nations said on Wednesday that their pledges for cutting greenhouse gas emissions were insufficient.

The first formal U.N. list of backers of the deal, compiled since the text was agreed at an acrimonious 194-nation summit in December, showed support from all top emitters led by China, the United States, the European Union, Russia, India and Japan.

It also includes smaller emitters from Albania to Zambia.

The accord, which falls short of a binding treaty sought by many nations, sets a goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. But it leaves each nation to set its own targets for 2020.

Yvo de Boer, outgoing head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat which compiled the list, said pledges for cutting greenhouse gas emissions so far fell short of that goal.

"It is clear that while the pledges on the table are an important step toward the objective of limiting growth of emissions, they will not in themselves suffice to limit warming to below 2 degrees Celsius," he said in a statement.

The accord also outlines almost $10 billion a year in aid for poor nations from 2010-12, rising to at least $100 billion from 2020, to help them slow emissions growth and cope with impacts such as floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

MEXICO

De Boer said the accord could be used to help advance formal negotiations toward a successful outcome in Mexico, which will stage the next U.N. climate conference of the world's environment ministers in Cancun in late 2010.

Many experts, including de Boer, have expressed doubts that Mexico will achieve a breakthrough where Copenhagen failed to work out a U.N. pact to succeed the existing Kyoto Protocol. One reason is that U.S. carbon capping legislation is stalled.

The Secretariat said that 112 parties -- 111 nations and the European Union -- had so far signed up for the accord. The list of 111 includes the 27 individual EU states.

It said 41 rich nations submitted goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and 35 developing countries outlined plans to limit growth of emissions. Together they account for more than 80 percent of world emissions from energy use.

The Copenhagen Accord was merely "noted" by the 194-nation summit after objections by a handful of developing nations including Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Sudan. The United Nations then asked all countries to say if they wanted to be listed or not. Wednesday's list is the result.

Many emerging economies were initially reluctant to sign up after the deal failed to gain universal support, even though the original text was worked out by U.S. President Barack Obama with leaders of states such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

Many developing nations want the 1992 U.N. Climate Convention to guide U.N. negotiations on a new treaty, arguing that it spells out more clearly that rich nations must take the lead. Washington, by contrast, favors the Copenhagen Accord.

Nations that stayed off the list include many OPEC countries such as Saudi Arabia, which fears a loss of oil revenues if the world shifts to renewable energies, and some small island states such as Tuvalu which fear rising sea levels.

(Reporting by Alister Doyle, editing by Paul Taylor)

Factbox: The Copenhagen Accord and global warming
Reuters 31 Mar 10;

(Reuters) - Following are details of the Copenhagen Accord for fighting global warming after the United Nations published on Wednesday a first formal list of more than 110 countries as formal backers.

The non-binding deal, worked out at a 194-nation summit in December, was only "noted" at the time after objections by some developing nations. The United Nations then asked all countries to say if they wanted to be listed as backers of the deal

The list of supporters includes major emitters led by China, the United States, the European Union, Russia and India.

Following are main details of the Accord:

TEMPERATURES - Governments will work to combat climate change "recognizing the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees Celsius" (3.6 Fahrenheit). Temperatures have already risen by about 0.7 Celsius since before the Industrial Revolution.

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS - The Accord does not set greenhouse gas goals for reaching the 2 degrees C target except to urge "deep cuts in global emissions" and to say that a peak in global emissions should be "as soon as possible." Many developing nations had wanted the rich to cut emissions by at least 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 -- rich nations' promised cuts so far average about 14-18 percent.

ADAPTATION - The Accord promises to help countries adapt to the damaging impacts of climate change such as droughts, storms or rising sea levels, "especially least developed countries, small island developing states and Africa." It also says all countries face challenges of adapting to "response measures" -- OPEC nations, for instance, argue they should be compensated if responses mean a shift from oil to wind or solar power.

2020 TARGETS - In an annex, rich nations list national goals for cuts in greenhouse gases and developing nations set out actions to slow the rise of emissions by 2020. In December, a leaked U.N. overview showed that, taken together, they imply a temperature rise of 3 degrees Celsius, not 2.

VERIFICATION - Developed nations will submit emissions goals for U.N. review. Developing nations' actions will be under domestic review if funded by their budgets but "subject to international measurement, reporting and verification" when funded by foreign aid. In Copenhagen, China resisted foreign review while the United States said it was vital.

DEFORESTATION - The text sees a "crucial role" for slowing deforestation -- trees store carbon dioxide as they grow.

MARKETS - The accord says countries will "pursue various approaches, including opportunities to use markets" to curb emissions.

AID - Developed nations promise new and additional funds "approaching $30 billion for 2010-12" to help developing countries. In the longer term, "developed countries commit to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion a year by 2020." Last month, the United Nations set up a high level panel, led by Britain and Ethiopia, to study sources of finance.

GREEN FUND - Countries will set up a "Copenhagen Green Climate Fund" to help channel aid. The deal will also set up a "Technology Mechanism" to accelerate use of green technologies.

REVIEW - The accord will be reviewed in 2015, including whether the temperature goal should be toughened to 1.5 degrees Celsius. An alliance of 101 least developed countries and small island states want temperatures to rise less than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

(Compiled by Alister Doyle in Oslo, Editing by Dominic Evans)

More countries set emission targets for 2020: UN
Richard Ingham Yahoo News 31 Mar 10;

PARIS (AFP) – Seventy-five countries accounting for more than 80 percent of greenhouse gases from energy use have filed pledges to cut or limit carbon emissions by 2020, the UN climate convention said on Wednesday.

The promises, made under the Copenhagen Accord, are only a step towards wider action to tackle global warming, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said in its official report on December's world climate summit.

A total of 111 countries plus the European Union (EU) "have indicated their support for the Accord," the UNFCCC said.

Cobbled together in the summit's crisis-ridden final hours, the Copenhagen Accord sets the goal of limiting warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), gathering rich and poor countries in action against carbon pollution that causes the problem.

It also promises 30 billion dollars (22 billion euros) for climate-vulnerable poor countries in the three years to 2012, and up to 100 billion dollars annually by 2020.

Supporters point out it is the first accord to include advanced and emerging economies in specified emissions curbs.

Critics retort that it has no deadline for reaching the warming target, has no roadmap for reaching it and its pledges are only voluntary.

The UNFCCC's report on Wednesday confirms that major emitters, including China, India and Brazil, have given the Accord their political blessing.

After more than two months of foot-dragging, the emerging giants separately aligned themselves with the document in early March.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said the promises were significant but not the final answer.

"It is clear that while the pledges on the table are an important step towards the objective of limiting growth of emissions, they will not in themselves suffice to limit warming to below 2 C (3.6 F)," he said.

"The climate conference at the end of this year in Mexico therefore needs to put in place effective cooperative mechanisms capable of bringing about significant acceleration of national, regional and international action both to limit the growth of emissions and to prepare for the inevitable impacts of climate change."

The December 7-19 confab drew attendance from 120 heads of state or government, the highest for any climate meeting.

It was initially touted as the culmination of a two-year negotiation process towards a global pact for tackling climate change beyond 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol's current provisions expire.

But delaying tactics and textual warfare, reflecting entrenched national interests and concern over the cost of switching out of carbon-intensive fuels, drove the summit to near-collapse.

In the end, heads of around two dozen countries, led by the major emitters, huddled together to produce the Accord.

The first official talks under the 194-nation UNFCCC will take place in Bonn, western Germany, from April 9-11.

Negotiators will be tasked with breathing life into the Copenhagen deal and seeing how it integrates with the labyrinthine two-track UNFCCC process.

"The meeting... is going to be very important to rebuild confidence in the process, to rebuild confidence that the way forward will be open and transparent on the one hand and efficient on the other," de Boer told reporters in a teleconference.

Greenhouse gases are mainly carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil and gas as well as methane from forest loss and agriculture.

They are blamed for trapping the Sun's heat in the atmosphere, instead of letting it radiate safely back into space.

The warming is changing the delicate ballet of Earth's climate system -- and by century's end, many millions could be afflicted by drought, floods, rising seas and severe storms, experts fear.

To achieve the 2 C (3.6 F) goal by 2100, rich countries would have to cut their emissions by 25-40 percent by 2020 over 1990 levels, while developing countries would have to brake their emissions by 15-30 percent below forecast trends.