Conclusions from Copenhagen

The recent climate change conference in Copenhagen brought together 115 world leaders in a bid to agree a comprehensive and legally binding agreement, that would set the world on a path to avoid dangerous climate change and which would govern the global response to climate change post 2012.

After two weeks of intense and difficult negotiations, the participants finally reached a compromise, detailed in the Copenhagen Accord. There was broad consensus that while the Accord fell well short of the hoped for agreement, it does represent a step towards a better future agreement.

Some of the key points of the Accord include:

• The objective to keep the maximum temperature rise to below 2 degrees celsius.
• Provision for a review of progress in 2015, including consideration of moving from a 2 to 1.5 degree celsius target.
• A commitment to list developing country emission reduction targets and the intended mitigation actions by developing countries for 2020, by the end of January 2010.
• Provision for immediate and long-term financing to assist developing countries to adapt to and mitigate against climate change, as well as mechanisms to support technology transfer and forestry.

While recognising the climate change challenge and its urgency, the Accord agrees that deep cuts in CO2 emissions are required but fails to set targets and dates for such cuts, only agreeing that it should happen as soon as possible, and that countries should all adopt low emission development strategies.

The Copenhagen conference was successful in bringing together the majority of the World’s leaders to seriously consider the threat that climate change represents. It has contributed significantly to the global momentum towards greener and more climate resilient development plans.

While not all that was wished for, the Copenhagen Accord marks a significant step on the road to a comprehensive and legally binding global climate deal. The challenge now is to move this agreement into a legally binding treaty, with clear agreed targets and commitments, ideally when the UNFCCC meets again less than a year from now in Mexico.