Main focus of Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The final phase in Copenhagen

The key phase of the climate conference in Copenhagen has begun. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has called on rich and poor countries to reach an agreement on Tuesday. It is hoped that by Friday 113 heads of state and government will have negotiated an ambitious climate deal. But European commentators see little chance of success.

Etelä-Saimaa - Finland

It will be difficult to reach a binding agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, writes Jorma Hernesmaa in the daily Etelä Saimaa: "The rift between the industrial, emerging and developing nations is simply too large. The Third World countries want promises of billion-dollar aid packages before they will agree to a timetable for lowering emissions. ... The EU wants to lead the way but finds it hard to reach an agreement with the worst polluters China and the US. ... Furthermore people are saying that emission rights are unreliable and difficult to control. All of these discussions limit people's trust in the entire system, even if it's difficult - as on other issues - to reach a global consensus." (16/12/2009)

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Corriere della Sera - Italy

The inflexibility of China and the US threatens to dash the goals of the climate summit in Copenhagen, the liberal conservative daily Corriere della Sera writes: "The conference reached a dead end yesterday. This means that 48 hours before the negotiations come to an end on Friday the danger of failure is becoming real. ... The atmosphere is extremely tense. A new draft for a compromise is circulating which is said to be even more generalised than the previous one. … The main reason for the tension is the battle between the US and China. … The European Union says that Americans and Chinese must do more, but yesterday failed to present new proposals. … The strongest appeal came yesterday from Pope Benedict XVI. He equated the abuse of the planet … with war and terrorism. Strong words. But time is running out in Copenhagen." (16/12/2009)

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Trouw - Netherlands

Given how sceptical and opposed to the Kyoto Protocol the US was only a few years ago the climate conference is a success, columnist Willem Breedveld writes in the daily Trouw: "The naïve belief [that climate change can be stopped by technical means] has in recent years been replaced by the more realistic recognition that we would be taking a huge risk which (if things go wrong) we wouldn't be able to justify to our children and children's children. … Until recently the climate wasn't even on the agenda in dictatorial countries. We have the democracies to thank for the fact that we have come this far, also because they can't (yet?) afford to pass on the bill for climate adjustment to their voters all too rudely. They're too cautious, if you ask me. But their caution at least carries the promise that the course will really be changed in the coming years and - who knows - Copenhagen will go down in history as a triumph for democracy."  (16/12/2009)

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Financial Times - United Kingdom

If they want to be successful, climate researchers and environmental ministers must above all convince public opinion in their own countries, writes Clive Crook in the Financial Times: "National politics - the democratic process - is awfully inconvenient sometimes, but cannot be waved away. The climate-science establishment - scientists subscribing to the global warming consensus and most governments, judging by words not deeds - understands this. ... This is why the Copenhagen meeting has a theatrical aspect; it is as much about public relations as about serious efforts to confront global warming. ... Governments should be honest and base their case for action on what they know - that is, on a balance of probabilities, not on exaggerated certainties. The public, they will find, can cope. Voters are not fools." (16/12/2009)

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