Nearly 100 Countries Formally ‘Associate’ with Copenhagen Accord — What other choice do they have?\u00a0 It’s the only agreement going forward that exists, for now.<\/p>\n
Image credit: america.gov\/Flickr<\/p>\n
By Jacob Werksman, WRI<\/p>\n
In the months following the Copenhagen climate conference, where the Conference of Parties \u201ctook note\u201d of the Copenhagen Accord, governments and commentators have been debating the legal status of this unique document.<\/p>\n
The Accord was agreed upon by a subset of the UNFCCC parties, but it lacked the consensus required to be formally adopted by the Conference of Parties. The unusual circumstances left unclear which governments supported the Accord, which governments did not, whether some or all of its provisions could become \u201coperational immediately,\u201d and which would require further actions.<\/p>\n
Shortly after COP-15, the UNFCCC Secretariat, with support from the UN Secretary General and the Danish COP Presidency, wrote to the UNFCCC parties and requested that they notify each other what targets for Annex I (developed) countries and actions for non-Annex I (developing) countries they were willing to put forward in response to the Accord. The Secretariat\u2019s letter also requested that parties indicate if they wished to \u201cassociate\u201d with the Accord and have their country\u2019s name listed in the final version of the Accord\u2019s opening paragraph.. . . .<\/p>\n
As of [March 24th], a total of 73 countries \u2014 40 Annex I and 33 non-Annex I countries (including Kazakhstan) \u2014 have submitted targets or actions to the Secretariat. Of these, 64 have explicitly associated themselves with the Accord.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
An additional 35 countries have explicitly associated themselves with the Accord but have not submitted targets or actions.<\/p>\n
13 countries \u2014 including Brazil, Croatia, China, India, Namibia, and Palau \u2014 have expressed support for the Accord without \u201cassociating\u201d with it, as further discussed below.<\/p>\n
4 countries \u2014 the Cook Islands, Kuwait, Nauru and Ecuador \u2014 have submitted letters to the UNFCCC not associating with or supporting the Accord.<\/p>\n
5 countries \u2014 an interesting combination of small island and oil exporting countries \u2014 have notified the Secretariat that they will not associate with the Accord.”<\/p>\n
Source: Solve Climate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nearly 100 Countries Formally ‘Associate’ with Copenhagen Accord — What other choice do they have?\u00a0 It’s the only agreement going forward that exists, for now. Image credit: america.gov\/Flickr By Jacob Werksman, WRI In the months following the Copenhagen climate conference, … Continue reading