A2X Consulting

The main goal of the Copenhagen Conference that began Monday is to set up a basic political policy to reduce global greenhouse gases by a certain amount and to determine how much wealthy countries should pay developing countries not to pollute the environment. The current climate treaty, The Kyoto Protocol, does not expire until 2012, thus whatever treaty is agreed upon at Copenhagen will be non-binding.

There are many issues on the table at Copenhagen and various factions that have divergent agendas. A big component to the Copenhagen Conference hinges upon the Kyoto Protocol and the notion that many countries seem ready to move on from that climate treaty, yet other nations want things to remain the same.

Success at Copenhagen

Yvo de Boer, the Dutch United Nations official leading the talks is quoted in NPR as defining success at Copenhagen if the following is achieved:

• The rich nations of the world should pledge to reduce their emissions by a reasonable amount and set a timeline for achieving those goals.
• Rapidly industrializing nations, such as China and India, pledge to take measures to address climate change, even though those will likely fall short of actually reducing their overall emissions.
• Developed nations put forth a substantial sum of money that can be distributed immediately to the world’s poorest countries so they can start adapting to a changing climate.
• Nations should start to figure out a long-term mechanism for providing larger amounts of financial support to developing nations so they can undertake climate-friendly activities such as restoring forests and developing clean sources of energy.

Varying Nations and Varying Points of View

The industrialized nations constitute such countries as the United States, Europe, Canada and Japan. Generally these countries share similar views about emission reductions. The United States signed the Kyoto Protocol but it never ratified it so it is not obligated to abide by it. With the exception of the US, these other countries must adhere to the Kyoto Protocol.