Tuesday
Feb092010
Copenhagen Was Not A Total Failure, Says White House Official
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 2:58PM
By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
Although the Copenhagen climate conference in December did not yield a legally binding agreement, President Obama’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, Todd Stern, defended U.S. efforts at the conference Tuesday, and explained that last-minute success was in fact reached.
Stern pointed to an accord that gave individual countries the responsibility to calculate emission reductions. The accord, which was agreed to by nearly 100 countries after a string of negotiations from Obama and Secretary State Hillary Clinton, also capped the increase in global average climate temperature at 2 degrees centigrade. Strong opposition came from six countries, including China and India, which ultimately prohibited the accord from becoming legally binding.
“[The accord] certainly doesn’t do everything, it is more sketch than painting,” Stern said during remarks at the Center for American Progress. “But it shows the way forward in a number of important ways, and did this at a moment when failure seemed imminent.”
“Progress in these issues should also contribute to the fabric of a larger new regime for climate diplomacy,” Stern added.
Although the Copenhagen climate conference in December did not yield a legally binding agreement, President Obama’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, Todd Stern, defended U.S. efforts at the conference Tuesday, and explained that last-minute success was in fact reached.
Stern pointed to an accord that gave individual countries the responsibility to calculate emission reductions. The accord, which was agreed to by nearly 100 countries after a string of negotiations from Obama and Secretary State Hillary Clinton, also capped the increase in global average climate temperature at 2 degrees centigrade. Strong opposition came from six countries, including China and India, which ultimately prohibited the accord from becoming legally binding.
“[The accord] certainly doesn’t do everything, it is more sketch than painting,” Stern said during remarks at the Center for American Progress. “But it shows the way forward in a number of important ways, and did this at a moment when failure seemed imminent.”
“Progress in these issues should also contribute to the fabric of a larger new regime for climate diplomacy,” Stern added.
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