Copenhagen Was Not A Total Failure, Says White House Official

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.

The era of low energy prices is over

Ambassador Richard H. Jones, Deputy Executive Director of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) sub-group the international Energy Agency, said the recent economic crisis could lead to a premature supply crunch in energy.

Speaking at an OECD discussion on "Energy Projections to 2030", Jones said that this, among other findings, signals that the era of low energy prices is over.

Jones said that there is still a chance for energy and climate concerns to be addressed, citing the COP-15 United Nations Climate Change Conference set to be held in Copenhagen from November 30th to December 11th, 2009.

According to Jones, if a solution is not found it "wont be for a lack of resources or technology, but a lack of leadership."