2009/12/18

Update @ Copenhagen

An email this morning from long-time sustainability activists Ryan Sisson..

Things are expected to move fast here today.

Consensus among most NGO's and attendees here at the People's Summit is that No deal will be better than a bad deal. Timelines will be key moving forward to ensure that the talks don't drag on for years.

Will they pin an agreement down now or drag it on until COP 16? There has been speculation that COP 16 in Mexico could be moved up by 6 months. At a briefing last night UN Climate Director to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said that the UN would support the move but it would depend on the host country's ability to hold it earlier. US negotiators are hiding behind Congress and Senate timelines claiming they don't have a mandate and 6 mths would be too soon. The gap between developing and developed nations is very wide.

COP15 will likely be known as a disaster for poorer nations. Funding committments of 100B from developed nations as announced by Sec. Of State Clinton is viewed as a 'drop in the bucket'.

350ppm CO2 is the magic number here. The upper limit of CO2 scientists say is safe in our atmosphere. We're at about 386 now. 350.org for more info. The President of the Maldives gave a heartfelt plea to our forum Monday night calling for this cap to be in the final agreement though the reference had been dropped from UN drafts as of the weekend.

The good news is that the UN is advising negotiators to prepare to stay until sunday- similar to Bali talks.

Canada is expected to win the global fossil fool award today. An international movement is growing here to stop or limit further growth of the Tar Sands.

Obama is expected to speak soon so I'm going to find somewhere to hear him. NGO delegates from around the world have been shut out of the Conference Centre today and restricted over the last few days. 15,000 capacity and 45,000 accredited delegates are here.

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