Word: summits
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...response by government to the threat of global warming has been underwhelming so far, a fact that remains little changed despite the political agreement negotiated at the U.N. summit in Copenhagen in December. But at least one business leader, the British billionaire and founder of the Virgin Group Richard Branson, says he has heard the alarm from scientists and environmentalists about climate change, and believes that the world must not waste time shifting away from oil and other fossil fuels. (See the Copenhagen climate conference...
...might have seemed safe to assume that the drama of the U.N. Climate Change summit in Copenhagen had finally ended when President Barack Obama emerged from a last-minute bargaining session with leaders of major developing nations to announce a deal. Obama quickly left town, aides saying Air Force One had to rush to beat the major snowstorm bearing down on Washington. Having agreed terms with the leaders of the U.S., China, India, Brazil and South Africa - the major carbon emitters of today and, even more importantly, of tomorrow - the President would have seemed to have brought two weeks...
...Because the U.N. body that oversees the climate negotiations works by consensus, every country present had an opportunity to voice their disproval of the proposed deal. And many took full advantage of that opportunity. The summit's final negotiating session dragged on for more than 30 straight hours, concluding on 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...
...deal within reach. For that, of course, he will also get the blame. Outside the Bella Center as delegates departed, a small group of protesters against the deal carried photos of Obama, with the words "climate shame" across his forehead. That may not be how many had expected the summit to conclude, but it may have been the only ending that was possible...
...China and the United States, the largest, most petulant children in this mess of a summit sandbox? Paradoxical practices have plagued their policies as well. China has publicly complained about the “lack of transparency” on the part of Denmark, the summit’s host nation, in its composition of the talks. Yet China has raised obstructive technical objections to specific lines of text throughout the week—eerily similar to the personal account of China’s actions at last year’s climate talks in Paris, shared with...