Word: agreements
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Saturday afternoon with the parties agreeing simply to "take note" of what had become known as the Copenhagen Accord. Although the refusal of several nations to endorse the deal meant it fell short of formal approval, according to the U.N. the outcome was enough for aspects of the agreement to become operational. "It may not be everything we hoped for, but this decision of the Conference of the Parties is an essential beginning," said an exhausted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. "Finally, we sealed the deal." (Watch video: "Climatoon: Sinking Islands and Copenhagen...
...final plenary saw an outpouring of frustration over two weeks of negotiations, long hours and a generally poorly planned event. Di-Aping said the Copenhagen Accord would destroy Africa, and compared the agreement to the Holocaust - perhaps not the smartest metaphor that could have been used by a representative of a government accused by some of conducting genocide. That statement set off a free-for-all, but eventually, even the parties most critical of the deal begged for consensus. "Papua New Guinea supports this document, even though it is flawed," said delegate Kevin Conrad. (See the top 10 green ideas...
...requirements, and only the vaguest reference to helping countries cut back on deforestation - a goal that many had hoped might be one of the few concrete achievements from Copenhagen. The Europeans, still the only bloc of nations with truly binding carbon caps, were unhappy, hoping for a far stronger agreement. "There is light and there is shadow," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a strong proponent for ambitious climate action. "The only alternative to the agreement would have been failure." (See pictures of Himalayan glaciers under threat...
...from saving the world, the Copenhagen Accord only begins the battle - diplomats will start almost immediately fighting over its details and working towards a better treaty. If a true compromise is an agreement that makes everyone leave the table a little unhappy, but offers them enough reason to keep the process going, Copenhagen achieved that much. Credit should go to President Obama, who arrived in Copenhagen with the negotiations in shambles and forced through what may have been the only deal within reach. For that, of course, he will also get the blame. Outside the Bella Center as delegates departed...
...detention of these civilians has become an international human rights issue. On Dec. 16, the European Union proposed suspending a major trade agreement with Sri Lanka, mainly due to the continued detention of IDPs. But Sri Lankan authorities have justified the camps as a security measure, allowing them to screen out suspected LTTE fighters hiding among the civilian population. Fonseka says he would have handled the process more effectively and warns of the consequences of failing to identify lurking LTTE cadres. "If there is a single terrorist act, the army will have to again start searching these people, putting...