World leaders: Legally binding treaty out of reach in Copenhagen

Heads of state gathered in Singapore this weekend conceded that the UN climate conference in three weeks will yield a political agreement only. US President Barack Obama and other leaders backed a two-step strategy proposed by the Danish host.

What has been evident for some time was confirmed this weekend by world leaders gathered in Singapore. The UN climate conference in Copenhagen (COP15) three weeks from now will not yield a legally binding treaty, but a comprehensive political agreement at best.

US President Barack Obama and other leaders gathered for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) backed a two-step approach proposed by Danish Prime Minister and incoming COP15 host Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

"Even if we may not hammer out the last dots of a legally binding instrument, I do believe a political binding agreement with specific commitment to mitigation and finance provides a strong basis for immediate action in the years to come," Rasmussen said, according to Bloomberg.

"We are not aiming to let anyone off the hook," he added. "We are trying to create a framework that will allow everybody to commit."

Rasmussen suggested the outcome in Copenhagen should be a five-to-eight page document with "precise language of a comprehensive political agreement". Negotiations to come up with a binding legal treaty would then continue into 2010 or possibly even beyond that.

Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, Michael Froman, told reporters there was an "assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full, internationally legally binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts in 22 days". They thought "it was important that Copenhagen be an important step forward."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said a political agreement on climate change can give impetus to further negotiations, his chief aide, Arkady Dvorkovich, told reporters. "The heads of state said they are ready to strike a political agreement," the aide said.

In a final declaration, APEC countries called Sunday for "an ambitious outcome in Copenhagen" but dropped a proposal included in earlier drafts to slash their greenhouse gas emissions to half their 1990 levels by 2050, AFP reports.

Environmental group WWF said in a comment that the leaders had "missed a great opportunity to move the world closer to a fair, ambitious and binding agreement" in Copenhagen, and "this does not look like a smart strategy" to battle climate change.

About 40 environment ministers are meeting in Copenhagen on Monday to try to salvage as much as they can of a global climate deal. According to Reuters, they will test how far the rest of the world agrees with the statements from the APEC meeting.

Michael von Bülow 16/11/2009

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