HOPENHAGEN

UN upbeat on Copenhagen global climate deal
6 December 2009 (BBC News)

"The UN's top climate official has given an upbeat assessment on the prospects of a global deal at a climate summit which opens in Copenhagen on Monday…192 nations began gathering in Denmark…[to form an agreement] to supplant the 1997 Kyoto Protocol [that expires in 2012], aimed at [fighting global climate change by] curbing greenhouse gas emissions…"

[Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):] "Never in 17 years of climate negotiations have so many different countries made so many pledges. Almost every day now governments are announcing pledges - it's unprecedented…We've got 100 heads of state and government coming to Copenhagen. And, in general, heads of government come to celebrate success, not failure…"

click thru to sign up

"Ahead of [the 11-day Copenhagen] talks, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) hit back at claims that human influence on global warming has been exaggerated…[and] said it was standing by its findings in response to a row over the reliability of data…[despite the fact that hacked] e-mail exchanges from [the University of] East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit have prompted climate change sceptics to claim that data has been manipulated…

"Almost all countries attending the meeting agree a deal must be reached…The main areas for discussion include…[1] Targets to curb greenhouse gas emissions, in particular by developed countries…[2] Financial support for mitigation of and adaptation to climate change by developing countries…[3] A carbon trading scheme aimed at ending the destruction of the world's forests by 2030…"

click thru to join the hope

"Environmental activists are planning demonstrations in Copenhagen and around the world on 12 December…But expectations for the meeting have fallen…Whatever is agreed will no longer have a legally binding basis…[but will be] a framework which could lead to the signing of binding final agreements by next year…

"The EU, which had sought a legally-binding agreement, has offered a 20% cut in its emissions from 1990 levels by 2020, rising to 30% in the event of a global agreement...The US is pledging to cut its emissions in several stages, beginning with a 17% cut from 2005 levels by 2020…India and China have both agreed to reduce their "carbon intensity", a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of GDP…"