Today Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC executive secretary, said that there will probably be two agreements at Copenhagen.\u00a0 This is big news for a rather mechanical week with lots of negotiations, text editing,\u00a0 and politicians here in the U.S. making announcements any time they feel they’re being ignored (which is often). \u00a0 Add to that leaks and big pronouncements that the talks are in disarray and it sounds like the whole thing is a waste of time.\u00a0 But it’s not.\u00a0 It is hard to keep up with all that is going on at this climate summit, COP15. There are the regular meetings and then there are hundreds of side meetings that aren’t on the official schedule. \u00a0 Here is the press conference from today.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“Briefing the press on day four of the conference, Yvo de Boer highlighted progress made in the area of technology, where there is agreement on a strong new structure to deliver on technology once the finance is in place.\u00a0 This new technology mechanism includes an Executive Body responsible for accelerating action on technology development and transfer, as well as a new Consultative Network for Climate Technologies.<\/p>\n
Mr. de Boer announced that negotiators have two days left before Ministers begin to arrive on Saturday, when the COP President will take stock of progress so far.\u00a0 On the question of the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol, Mr. de Boer said that \u201cthe Kyoto Protocol will and must survive,\u201d emphasizing that \u201cthe Kyoto Protocol is the only legally binding instrument we have to act on climate change.\u201d He pointed out the time needed for a new instrument to be ratified and enter into force, and stressed the importance for the market mechanisms of avoiding any gap.”<\/p>\n
You really can’t get much from these clips of press briefings and they sound much drier than what is actually going on there.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It would be better to watch some of the videos but the UN isn’t releasing this media as podcasts or anything portable — you have to go to their website to look up the videos.\u00a0\u00a0 So, visit the UNFCCC website if you want to follow what is going on in Copenhagen. They are negotiating a new text to extend Kyoto, which hasn’t helped, and the main thing going for it seems to be that it’s a legal document. Now it looks like there may be two agreements. This is from Bloomberg:<\/p>\n
Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) — United Nations negotiators will probably propose two climate agreements this month, with an extension of the Kyoto Protocol controlling emissions until a wider deal is struck, said the top official at talks in Denmark.<\/p>\n
The first accord will extend the protocol, whose targets expire in 2012, Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said today in an interview in Copenhagen. A second, perhaps ratified later by all nations including the U.S., would be a new treaty.<\/p>\n
With all these treaties being discussed, you would think [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC executive secretary, said that there will probably be two agreements at Copenhagen.\u00a0 This is big news for a rather mechanical week with lots of negotiations, text editing,\u00a0 and politicians here in the U.S. making announcements … Continue reading