Binding Copenhagen deal 'highly unlikely'
Legally-binding climate change deal at Copenhagen summit 'highly unlikely' after inconclusive Asia-Pacific summit
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By Darren Plant. |  |
Sunday, 15, Nov 2009 07:44
By Matthew Champion
Hopes are fading for a legally-binding commitment on carbon emissions at next month's Copenhagen summit after leaders of nations representing two-thirds of global GDP failed to make headway on the issue.
US president Barack Obama and his Chinese and Russian counterparts Hu Jintao and Dmitry Medvedev were in attendance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in Singapore to oversee a severely-watered down final communiqué issued on climate change.
An earlier draft of the statement saw a specific commitment to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but this was dropped from the final version, which said: "We... reaffirm our commitment to tackle the threat of climate change and work towards an ambitious outcome in Copenhagen."
The statement added: "We believe that global emissions will need to peak over the next few years, and be substantially reduced by 2050, recognising that the timeframe for peaking will be longer in developing economies."
Attending the talks was New Zealand prime minister John Key, who said it was "highly unlikely" a binding agreement would now be reached in Copenhagen.
This sentiment was echoed by Danish prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, a surprise visitor on the sidelines of Apec, and White House officials.
Many campaigners and leaders had pinned their hopes on Copenhagen to lay the groundwork for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
In a major speech last month, UK prime minister Gordon Brown said world leaders had 50 days to save the planet, warning of a climate change "catastrophe" if significant progress was not made in the Danish capital.
At Apec yesterday, the consensus was that the quest for that "perfect agreement" at Copenhagen was already over.