Well, it was probably always going to come down to this – todays the day that the Copenhagen Summit will either produce an agreement of some kind or not. President Obama has deemed it worthy enough to warrant an appearance. We will update this post throughout the day with the breaking news as it happens………apologies for the rather rambling nature – we’ll have a proper summary once the dust has settled……..
Watch live Copenhagen coverage here.
Watch live video from OneClimate on Justin.tv
UK readers can watch live coverage from Copenhagen here.
The Guardian is Live Blogging from the conference as well – probably alot more succinct than we are!
- Talks made no progress overnight – Times Online
- BBC News – talks ‘confusing and desperate’
11.40 – China holding up talks, Sarkozy
11.53 – OBAMA ADRESSES COPENHAGEN- FULL TEXT HERE
There is no time to waste. America has made our choice. We have charted our course, we have made our commitments, and we will do what we say. Now, I believe that it’s time for the nations and people of the world to come together behind a common purpose.
We must choose action over inaction; the future over the past – with courage and faith, let us meet our responsibility to our people, and to the future of our planet. Thank you.
12.26 – Look out Mr President, Indie Hero Thom Yorke is after you!
Radiohead Singer interviewed by The Guradian.
12.45 – Obama’s speech hasn’t exactly went down too well…..
ActionAid’s climate expert, Raman Mehta, said:
Obama has said nothing to save the Copenhagen conference from failure.
The US is the one major player yet to move. Developing countries have come here to negotiate in good faith but feel they have been cheated and it looks like they will leave empty handed.
Greenpeace US’s executive director Phil Radford said:
The world was waiting for the spirit of yes we can, but all we got was my way or the highway.
He said all parties must move, but he offered no movement. He said the decades long split between the rich world and poor needs to end, but his vision of a deal here would give us a 3C temperature rise and devastate Africa and the small island states.
Friends of the Earth is “deeply disappointed” by Obama’s speech.
Andy Atkins, Friends of The Earth
The President is right that the endeavours in Copenhagen will go down in history – but unless we see a massive shift in the US position, it will be for all the wrong reasons.
Obama has deeply disappointed not just those listening to his speech at the UN talks – he has disappointed the whole world.
20.49 – In a similar vein to the negotiations in Copenhagen, we have been sidelined by technical issues today, apologies. Nothing much has happened really – we are now on the fourth draft of the ‘accord’ which you can read here (although there’s probably another one being uploaded as i type). The ‘highlights’ of the deal (ripped shamelessly from Auntie Beeb):
- “Recognises the scientific view” on keeping temperature rise below 2C (3.6F) but does not set it as a target
- No date for peaking emissions – just “as soon as possible”
- Developing countries to monitor and verify their own emissions without international oversight
- “Support a goal” of raising $100bn per year by 2020, not commit to achieving that goal
- No date for concluding a detailed agreement, nor whether it should be legally binding
Sounds a bit watery to me.
21.17 – We have a ‘meaningful deal’ apparently