Newsgroup: Copenhagen Climate Talks
News, opinion and analysis of the COP15 international climate change conference, being held in Copenhagen from Dec. 7 to 18, 2009.
china Links
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- Ashley Braun of Grist.org linked this on December 16, 2009 at 7:44PM EST
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Ashley said:
And what it says about a "temperature tax" proposal
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- Ashley Braun of Grist.org linked this on December 15, 2009 at 6:53PM EST
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Ashley said:
China's use of coal could double or even triple
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- Russ Walker of Yahoo! News linked this on December 12, 2009 at 10:58AM EST
- Quote: Whether the Copenhagen conference results in any kind of political agreement, environmental activists say, largely hinges on the success of America and China reaching a private deal. On Friday, Stern downplayed the divide between the two nations, which wield enormous influence with other countries at the summit - the United States with rich industrialized nations that built their wealth on fossil fuels, and China with poor developing countries that aspire to do the same. "Whether we get a deal or not hangs in the balance," Stern said. "But there is a deal to be had with respect to all the major issues, and we are going to work on it." To get there, the two countries must first overcome a complex political stalemate. China, which blames centuries of U.S. pollution for the current state of the world's climate, won't do more unless America agrees to make steeper emissions cuts and pay more money into a kitty that will help developing nations mitigate their emissions. But the United States won't commit to deep cuts unless China agrees to "robust" actions, arguing that developing countries will be responsible for roughly 28% of the world's greenhouse gas pollution by 2020. "This isn't a matter of politics or morality or anything else, it's just math," Stern said.
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- Russ Walker of Yahoo! News linked this on December 7, 2009 at 8:36AM EST
- Quote: China announced Nov. 26 that it would cut carbon emissions per unit of its gross domestic product (GDP) by between 40 percent and 45 percent by 2020 compared with 2005 levels. The pledge, however, raised many questions about how the reductions would be verified. Xie Zhenhua, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top planning body, said China's carbon-intensity goals would be subject to domestic accountability systems that he did not specify. He said the goals would not be internationally binding nor subject to foreign verification.
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- Russ Walker of Yahoo! News linked this on November 15, 2009 at 10:16PM EST
- Quote: Neither the United States nor China -- which together account for roughly 40 percent of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions -- has outlined specific climate targets for 2020, a key sticking point for the negotiations. Obama administration officials have said they are reluctant to identify a near-term goal until Congress passes climate legislation, which will not reach the Senate floor before next year. China's leaders argue that, as a developing country, it should not be bound to specific reductions under any international treaty.
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