Copenhagen Accord

Earlier this month, more than 15,000 negotiators met for two weeks in Copenhagen to hammer out the details of a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. What they produced is known as the Copenhagen Accord, a non-binding agreement that falls well short of expected targets. http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/application/pdf/cop15_cph_auv.pdf. What went wrong at Copenhagen, and what are the issues left unresolved for a future legally binding agreement?

The Economist magazine offers a good overview – from a business perspective – of what concerns were on the negotiating table. The magazine’s special report, published before the summit at Copenhagen and titled “Getting Warmer” (Dec. 5, 2009), is online at http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14994872. Even according to The Economist, concerns raised by developing countries comprised a core set of issues. However, these issues were largely left unresolved in the Copenhagen Accord.

For a closer look at some unresolved issues raised by developing countries and allies, and to counterbalance the business perspective raised by The Economist, take a look at Jacqui Patterson’s blog, Climate Justice Initiative, https://climatejusticeinitiative.wordpress.com/. Jacqui Patterson, a friend and inspiration, is the Director of the Climate Gap Initiative at NAACP. At Copenhagen, she followed issues essential to all of us, and particularly urgent for those of us living in developing countries: high rates of cancer and other illnesses connected to climate pollution, increasing displacement caused by catastrophic events, climate change adaptation, etc. Her blog offers unique illustrative interviews, actions, protests, and insights that you won’t find anywhere else, all of which is missing from the pages of The Economist.

Do you have thoughts and links to instructive websites and articles that contribute to this discussion going forward? Please feel free to leave a note in the comments section. In the meantime, as we kick off the New Year, I will continue to focus on what we each can do with or without a legally binding agreement on climate change: how we can sustainably use energy and other resources at home.