With 100 leaders expected and delegates from 192 countries in attendance, many are saying that Copenhagen has become ’too big to fail’.
Amidst the grey skies of the city, thousands upon thousands of NGO participants, journalists and industry representatives stood in queues for hours waiting to join the climate change talks in the Bella Centre. Senior negotiators have said that there are some 35,000 – 40,000 people who are trying to get accreditation to attend the conference, although only 15,000 can actually fit in the main hall! Organisations have already been warned that they will be limited in the number of spaces available next week.
Flurry of Activity
Within the Bella Centre it is the US delegation that has the most activity around it, with their negotiators being whisked from event to event amidst the plenary sessions. The US chief negotiator Jonathan Pershing (until Todd Stern arrives later in the week) said that there is a lot of pressure on the negotiators this week and that the atmosphere is already tense. Pershing pointed to the positive sign in days leading up to the conference that several countries announced new emission targets and goals, including the US, China, Brazil, India and South Africa. Pershing said that negotiations will probably take a ‘bottom-up’ approach compared to Kyoto, where negotiation followed a ‘top-down’ model. But he didn’t downplay the fact that there is divergence still on many issues such as commitments, financing and reporting, with more divergence still on the ‘other’ issues of technology, capacity building, forests (REDD) and adaptation.
The US held their initial briefing while still in Washington DC and many media outlets are speculating that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is going to declare that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to the public’s health and welfare. Insiders say that this is a move that will lay the groundwork for an economy-wide carbon cap, even if Congress fails to enact climate legislation, and shows just how serious Obama is about a deal at Copenhagen.
Hit of the day: The US announcing that it is sending the ‘A team’, with eight members of the Cabinet and President Obama’s advisors attending the climate change talks in Copenhagen.
Miss of the Day: The Four Hour Queues Outside the Bella Centre!
