Achievements of Copenhagen Summit !!!

It is difficult to calculate what may result from the chaos of the Copenhagen climate change conference (COP15), but as the things are getting settled, the traces of the future are becoming visible.

The output - a decision to "take note of" an accord drawn up by heads of state on Friday evening - is far from the legally binding treaty which some had expected and for which many hoped.

However, this does not change the fact that the Copenhagen conference was a unique moment in history.

But still the Copenhagen Conference was unique and this kind of summit doesn't happen every other day...

Copenhagen could change the below:

• There has never been a meeting like this in which 110 world leaders are present and a single issue is on the agenda. The countries that were around the text, the US, China, India, South Africa, Brazil and the EU, also reflects a world in which the balance of power has significantly changed in the last 20 years.
• At the base level, the conference redefined the debate between countries in terms of awareness of climate science and their support for action. There doesn't exist a question now that climate change is central to the political thinking of every country on the planet.
• The awareness of the Public has also surged by miles. The mass campaigns run around the world in the run-up to Copenhagen by governments, NGOs and business and the media coverage of the issue and the summit have made addressing climate change widely understood and discussed from the pubs of rural England to the bars of Beijing.
• One more very important and vital change is that green growth is now the prevailing economic model of our time. The idea, with which some people still live, that addressing climate change is bad for business was almost poisoned at Copenhagen. Countries from both developed and developing worlds announced low-carbon economic plans and are moving forward by leaps and bounds...

Things Copenhagen could not change:

• The stuff like political will, economic direction and public pressure was not enough to overcome the concerns over sovereignty that many countries have in the context of international law. The final decision reflects the fact that many countries only want to be answerable to themselves. They will co-operate, but not under the threat of legal sanction.
• It could not reach a quantified aggregate target for emissions reduction like the 50% by 2050 that was in early drafts - as it stands, targets are yet to be announced and they may be at the low end of what was promised, locking in ever greater emissions.
• The reference to transparency in the text is quite significant and it will mean that for the first time actions by countries can be assessed globally, but it could not reach to tangible verification process of the actions undertaken in the developing world unless they are paid for by the developed world.
• Also, the detail on any of the elements it mentions is very less.

The pact does refer to the target of limiting global warming to 2C above pre-industrial temperatures, as well as the need for quantified action by both developed and developing countries - but it's unclear about how the target will be achieved.

The deal at Copenhagen, as it stands, leaves the world on a pathway for temperature rises of 3C and above.

It remains us to see and judge whether committed targets on emissions, which are due to be met at the end of January, will make a difference. There will also be a review of progress in 2015 which may offer the opportunity to adjust any targets in light of the science.

Many hoped the Copenhagen summit would lead to legally mandated co-ordinated international action, but it appears that the outcome will be intergovernmental policy co-ordination with a focus on the implementation of national strategies. The move to green growth is no longer in doubt anymore, but the details, actions and time frame remain unclear at best.

Source: BBC News