It’s over. The first ministers and heads of state are leaving the Bella Center, perhaps even flying back home (yes, it’s groase, I guess that’s why COP15 allegedly emits as many emissions as an average town of 150,000 inhabitants, the Tagi voiced some days back). COP15 will enter history, and I doubt it will do so for constructive negotiations, steps forward and towards each other… and certainly not for transparency. The important bit first: A legally binding agreement could not be reached, and President Obama is defending the outcome saying that a better deal could not be attained at this point of time. He stated that a higher level of confidence towards each other would be needed first. Some hope might be that concrete emission reduction targets shall be agreed upon and signed later and added to the agreement in an annex. Although this outcome had become more and more likely in the last few days, I still feel pretty let down. How can it be that 192 parties, together with more than 100 heads of state, join here in Copenhagen for virtually agreeing on nothing?
This is what I’ve just witnessed via live-streaming from the Press Conference Room. The President of Mexico stated that (I hope I was typing fast enough to get the key points…)
“… Largos, tensos… Ha habido una enorme tensión, habrá un acuerdo de Copenhague, compromisos de reducción de emisiones, y también el fondo verde de Copenhague de financiación. El acuerdo está lejos de ser lo que muchos esperaban. Los avances logrados deben servir como base para un acuerdo en el futuro. Estoy convencido que los seres humanos podrán tomar las decisiones necesarias para combatir el cambio climático.”
“… Long, tense… There has been an enormous tension, there will be a Copenhagen Accord, compromises of emission reductions, and also a Copenhagen green finance fund. The agreement is far from being what many hoped for. The progress reached shall serve as the basis for future agreements. I’m convinced that human beings will be able to take the necessary decisions to fight against climate change.”
With this, good night folks… I’m off to bed!
P.S. Canada wins the Fossil of the Year award, witness the ceremony. Their tar sands are just too precious…
How can it be that 192 parties, together with more than 100 heads of state, join here in Copenhagen for virtually agreeing on nothing?
Oh, you know, it’s like with the Ents in the Tolkien universe. After long, important hours in the lifes of Hobbits, Men and Elves, Treebeard proudly informed the hobbits that the Ents had just agreed that they were no orcs.
I imagine the heads of the states sitting there and discussing who’s a friend and who’s a foe. And surprisingly the time for the meeting was over before they even got to the point why they had met in the first place.
Gah.