COP15 – Day 4 roundup

A war on drafts has broken out at the Copenhagen climate conference. In response to an alleged Danish draft that was leaked (click here to read more about that), China, India, South Africa and Brazil on Thursday published a draft for a climate deal calling for a “binding” amendment to the Kyoto Protocol.

Duel on drafts

Another climate draft has emerged. The senders are major emerging economies who call on rich countries to reduce their carbon emissions by more than 40%. In November, during a closed-door meeting in Beijing between China,India, South Africa and Brazil, the four major emerging economies finalised an 11-page draft – the “Copenhagen Accord.” It requires a”binding” amendment to the Kyoto Protocol and calls for rich countries to reduce their carbon emissions by more than 40% compared to1990 levels, AFP reports.

The initiative, led by Beijing, was conceived as a rebuttal by developing countries to the ”Copenhagen Agreement” draft allegedly written by the UN conference’s host countryand leaked by The Guardian newspaper Tuesday this week.

According to AFP, the “Copenhagen Accord”, posted on the website of French daily Le Monde, embraces the objective of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. It calls on rich countries – committed to CO2 reductions under the Kyoto Protocol of at least 5% by 2012 – to “multiply by eight” and points out that reductions should be made “mainly through domestic measures” and not through the purchase of so-called “offsets” outside their borders in developing countries.

Regarding funding, the world´s major emerging economies call for the creation of a special fund under the authority of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Obama: Climate change is a security issue

In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, US President Barack Obama stressed the importance of confronting climate change.  

Medvedev to attend conference

The Russian president will be joining some 110 heads of state and government in the final stages of COP15.
 

Nations demand tougher climate goals

The two-degree target has split the UN right down the middle. According to the Alliance of Small Island States, more than a hundred nations demand a 1.5-degree limit on the global temperature rise.
 

G-77: Personal call on President Obama

The Group of 77, representing the majority of the world´s developing countries, urges the US to join the Kyoto Protocol and commit to emission reductions comparable to those of other industrialized nations.
 

Copenhagen summit tops Google

Overtaking the position from American golf star Tiger Woods, “Copenhagen” is now the number one search query on the world´s leading internet search engine. 