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Global treaty postponed
From the Guardian today:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/05/copenhagen-climate-change-treaty-delay
5 November 2009
A global treaty to fight climate change will be postponed by at least six months and possibly a year or more, senior negotiators and politicians conceded today.
In a day of gloomy statements, the world’s key industrialised nations said they had abandoned hope of a legally binding treaty at the Copenhagen summit next month and had begun to plan only for a meeting of world leaders.
In London, Ed Miliband, the UK climate change secretary, became the first British politician to acknowledge publicly that Copenhagen would produce no legal climate change treaty.
Speaking in the House of Commons, he said: “The UN negotiations are moving too slowly and not going well.” He went on to describe a “history of mistrust” between developed and developing nations with negotiators “stuck in entrenched positions”, an impasse that prompted African nations to stage a walkout at the negotiations this week.
Both Miliband and the prime minister, Gordon Brown, are to attend Copenhagen, with Brown calling it the last chance to prevent “catastrophic” climate change… Read more
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Jon Rae, Development Director at Schumacher College: We can’t let Copenhagen pass by without a serious effort on all our parts. We are going to Copenhagen, with our partners at Transition Network. We will be working with other NGOs to try and accelerate work in tackling climate change and making our communities and organisations more resilient going forward. It is a massive opportunity.
Charlie McConnell, Director at Schumacher College: We must not rely solely on the summit to solve this problem. Climate change is a complex issue and this complexity needs to be addressed before, during and after the summit. What ever the politicians think scientists are telling us that, in best case scenario we will see a dramatic change in climate and serious repercussions for the health of the planet. Worst case scenarios include a collapse of earth systems. We have to work intensively to ensure that we avoid this worst case scenario.
Malini Mehra is founder & CEO of the Centre for Social Markets in India and is teaching on the forthcoming Schumacher College course After Copenhagen: “I don’t think we can over-estimate the importance of COP15. This isn’t just another conference – this is THE moment when as a global community we have to commit to a radical plan to address climate change. Our politicians might waffle but scientists are telling us that time is running out and the planet won’t keep giving us extensions. Is it likely that we’ll get our act together by December? I don’t know – but we have to believe in the impossible and work like the blazes to achieve it. My biggest fear is that the talks collapse – but we can’t prepare for failure, we have to create a shocking and daring new global consensus for action. As citizens, that’s our task.”
Relevant courses
After Copenhagen: Opportunities and challenges
1 – 19 March 2010
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