World split on climate path before Bonn talks, COP 15
Release Date: 2009-03-27
Governments are generally supportive of tough 2050 goals for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions but disagree on how to share out the reductions.
The long-term goals are fairly firm, but the path is wide open. This more or less sums up the situation before climate negotiators meet in Bonn from March 29-April 8 for preliminary talks leading up to the UN climate conference in Copenhagen this December.
The delegates will be presented with a 30-page document which narrows down a list of ideas for fighting global warming. The text is down from 120 pages by late last year.
The text states that "There is broad support by parties for a science-based indicative goal for the reduction of greenhouse gases to the middle of the century”. Possible goals include cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050.
The document, however, adds that "There is a lack of convergence on the issue of the contribution by different groups of countries to the achievement of the long-term goal and pathways to it”.
"It shows that there's an awful lot still to be done. And it also shows what needs to be done," says Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat. "It's a good leg-up to a much more precise agenda focusing on filling in the gaps," he says.
Michael Cutajar, who is leading the UN-negotiations under the Climate Convention, calls the text “an important step to the climate conference in Copenhagen in December, COP15”.
“With this, we truly enter into negotiation mode,” he says.
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | COP 15 |
| Country: | Denmark |
| Url: | http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=986 |