In the last two weeks, Belize, Burundi, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Nigeria, and Timor-Leste have associated with the Copenhagen Accord. Tunisia, already associated, submitted actions. Venezuela has reiterated that it will not associate. See Who’s On Board With the Copenhagen Accord.

Delegates are meeting in Bonn this week and next for a UNFCCC intersessional, spending much of their time discussing the new discussion draft produced in the LCA negotiating track. The draft contains various pieces of the Copenhagen Accord.  In some cases, the new text lists options both from the Accord and previous versions of the LCA text.  For example, the global temperature goal is listed in brackets with corresponding choices of 1, 1.5 or the 2 degrees Celsius goal in the Accord. The design of this discussion draft will likely be looked upon favorably by countries who did not associate with the Accord or who were not completely happy with the Copenhagen outcome.  Countries who participated heavily in the Copenhagen process will likely be less favorable to this version of the draft text.  Look for a more formalized version of the LCA negotiating text to be released by the chair early the week of June 7.

Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica has been appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to succeed Yvo de Boer as executive secretary of the UNFCCC. Shortly after her appointment, Figueres spoke to how some Latin American countries rejected the Copenhagen Accord. “What they were bringing out, with which I completely agree, was that the process that was used to come to the Copenhagen Accord was a process that was not as inclusive as it should have been or as transparent as it should have been. They were fully correct about that assessment in that moment,” she said. Figueres went on to say the Accord is a “a big step forward for all participating countries, but a small step for the planet.”

Futures Magazine speculates that the Copenhagen Accord “will evolve into a multilateral agreement backed by the largest emitting nations, with financial carrots and sticks for developing nations to take on obligations of their own.”

New Publications

UNEP released the new report, The Outcomes of Copenhagen: The Negotiations and The Accord, ahead of the negotiations in Bonn. The publication evaluates the outcomes of the Copenhagen conference, including how provisions in the Copenhagen Accord may be inserted into formal negotiating tracks.

A new International Institute for Sustainable Development PowerPoint gives the state of play of international climate negotiations and describes ways to muster funding to help developing countries cope with climate change.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics describes the Copenhagen conference, evaluates the resulting accord, and discusses key issues moving forward. Author Trevor Houser argues that despite the chaos in Copenhagen, the accord is a “significant step in addressing global climate change.”

Warwick McKibbin and others with The Brookings Institution released a new report that provides a comparison of likely emission reductions and economic efforts required to meet the Copenhagen Accord’s targets. Using the G-Cubed model of the global economy, the researchers formulate a no-policy baseline projection for major world economies and then model the Copenhagen Accord’s economy-wide commitments, with a focus on fossil-fuel-related CO2.

A Pew Center for Global Climate Change report summarizes the main provisions of the Copenhagen Accord and of the draft core decision texts carried forward from Copenhagen in the AWG-LCA working group.

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change also published an 11-slide deck describing the pledges under the Copenhagen Accord as of May 24, 2010.

Ecofys releases a report that evaluates the likelihood of achieving the 2 degrees Celsius climate goal. The authors found that emissions reduction pledges of countries around the world could add up to 70 percent of the reduction that is needed. However, the authors stress that the actual reductions will most likely not be achieved with the current pledges.

Global Donor Platform for Rural Development released an issue paper that touches on how agriculture and food security should be addressed via the Copenhagen Accord.

Jennifer Morgan, Director of the Climate and Energy Program at the World Resources Institute, authors this 23-slide deck on what is in store for international negotiations going forward.

Country Developments

Africa. Reverend Canaan Phiri, President of the Fellowship of Christian Councils of Southern Africa (FOCCISA) said his organization opposes Copenhagen Accord. Phiri said he was worried that the agreement was overshadowing the important outcomes of the two negotiation tracks under the UNFCCC.

Australia. The Australian government has committed around $350m in the financial years 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 to assist developing countries mitigate the impacts of, and adapt to, climate change. This falls short of the $450-$600m of ‘new and additional’ funding the government has promised under the Copenhagen Accord.

Australia. Australia’s climate chief defended the outcomes of Copenhagen, arguing the summit was not a failure as some critics claim. Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency secretary Martin Parkinson said that, while progress was not as great as many hoped in Copenhagen, “significant gains have been made.” He reiterated that the Copenhagen Accord included “historic achievements” such as commitments by developed and developing nations to limit global warming to two degrees.

Australia. Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have started creeping up again after a dip caused by the global financial crisis, a trend that would see the nation overshoot its Copenhagen Accord commitment by a large margin.

ALBA. Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba urge developed nations to take on bigger emissions cuts and criticize the new LCA negotiating text for over-emphasizing the non-binding Copenhagen Accord.

Canada. Liberal MPs criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper for rebuffing UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s plea to prioritize climate change at the G8 and G20 Summits to be held in Canada later this month. “Why does Stephen Harper refuse to see the connection between the environment and the economy?” asks Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae. “Stephen Harper is isolating Canada on a world issue that we can’t afford to ignore.”

Denmark. The Embassy of Denmark published a statement that concludes “the Copenhagen outcome, although falling short of expectations, provides a basis on which to work further. The aim should be a comprehensive, balanced, and uniform legally binding agreement in 2010, in line with the level of ambition dictated by science.”

France. The French government released a statement ahead of the UN climate talks in Bonn that touched on the Accord. It said the intersessional “should allow us to reaffirm our determination to swiftly implement the Copenhagen Accord, i.e. make progress on all tracks of the negotiation based on the guidelines provided in Copenhagen by the Heads of State and Government. France, together with its European partners will present, on the sidelines of the discussions, certain projects initiated within the framework of fast start financing. For the record, our contribution for the three-year period 2010-2012 amounts to €1.2 billion out of the €7.2 billion planned by the EU. The Copenhagen Accord, which represented key progress, will now benefit from the support of 129 States and should become fully integrated into the UNFCCC.”

France and Africa. King Mswati III of Swaziland, speaking at the 25th Africa-France Summit in Nice, urged all countries to adhere to the Copenhagen Accord in order to pave the way to the next major Summit in November. “Needless to say, the $30 billion USD pledged to finance early action … will go a long way towards the goal of a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions against the 1990 levels of 2050.”  In the final declaration of the summit, the parties “underscored that the Copenhagen Accord on climate change marked a first step towards the conclusion of a comprehensive agreement in Cancun at the end of 2010.”

Germany. At the opening segment of the Carbon Expo conference in Cologne, Dr. Norbert Rottgen said in the “framework of the Copenhagen Accord the industrialized countries have so far proposed an emission reduction of 19 percent at most,” as opposed to 25 to 40 percent scientists say is required in order to avert dangerous climate change.

India. India released a report on India’s greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory earlier this week showing a 30% fall in energy intensity per unit GDP, demonstrating that India may be on its way to achieving its Copenhagen Accord target of reducing emissions intensity by 20 to 25 percent from 2005 levels by the year 2020.

India. Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi voiced concerns that the Copenhagen Accord would affect the sovereignty of India and serves the interests of developed nations. “The words – international consultation and analysis – that figure in the accord amount to a sort of monitoring of the situation related to emissions … we should not accept it,” he told reporters.

Indonesia. The president of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged world leaders to support the Copenhagen Accord. “We have different views with regard to what has happened in Copenhagen, but apart from that it gave a clear message that we must maintain the momentum,” Yudhoyono said at a conference on climate and forests.

Japan. Takashi Hongo, Special Advisor to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, presented a PowerPoint presentation that outlines Japan’s commitment to mobilize finance to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Malaysia. The Consumers Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia urges the government to reject the Copenhagen Accord. Their association specifically condemns the document as being drafted in a “non-transparent and undemocratic manner.”

New Zealand. New Zealand has reportedly not budgeted the $44 billion they agreed to contribute under the Copenhagen Accord. The prime minister said he does not know why the sums are missing from the budget and continued to insist that an emissions trading scheme rollout would not be deferred.

Tuvalu. At the Bonn negotiations, AOSIS member Tuvalu stated that it does “not support language from the Copenhagen Accord on so-called Green Funding. We do not consider it appropriate to include any Copenhagen Accord language, as this does not represent a consensus decision.” US Climate Envoy Jonathan Pershing responded that “many here say that the Copenhagen Accord has no standing but the LCA does. Unfortunately, that’s not true. The version of the LCA that we are working on is not one others have signed onto. It doesn’t reflect an agreement. It doesn’t have any standing.”

United Kingdom. Economist Nicholas Stern spoke positively about the Copenhagen Accord at the Hay Festival in late May. “Life is full of ups and downs. People didn’t see, because it was so chaotic and acrimonious, that the Copenhagen Accord turned out to be a strong platform for going forward. It was much less fragile than many of us feared. The submissions to Copenhagen now cover 120 countries, and 80% of emissions. If everybody delivers, it will give you emissions levels in 2020 that are the same as we have now. And we’ll have peaked. That’s really worth having.”

United States and China. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking on May 23 at the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing, said the Copenhagen Accord must now be implemented “with balanced commitments that are reflected in the ongoing negotiation.”

United States and Mexico. President Barack Obama and President Felipe Calderon released a joint statement reaffirming their shared commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the importance of a successful outcome in Cancun.

United States and India. During a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, William Burns, U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs, said the United States and India share “common ground on climate change, and the Copenhagen Accord could not have happened without leadership at the highest levels from India.”

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December 18, 2009 Heads of State Work to Clear Copenhagen Road Block Just hours left for 192 nations to forge a climate agreement that moves the world towards solving climate warming and the bounty of a clean energy economic transition. For most of the last two weeks in Copenhagen it’s been a tough hike. Today it was no easier. Developing nations seek commitments on reducing emissions of carbon dioxide that are significantly higher in the short-term than developed nations say they are ready to enact. Developed nations disagree on how much they should contribute to a global fund to cool the planet and heat up the economy. Yesterday, though, a gust of progress seemed to blow through Copenhagen’s Bella Center, where the UN Climate Change Conference is occurring. The United States started the day with a commitment to help finance a $100 billion climate and energy fund, the first time the U.S. has formally recognized the magnitude of the investment needed globally. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the commitment predicated on the Chinese allowing the world to measure and verify carbon reductions there. The Chinese followed later in the day — no surprise — with assurances that it would be much more transparent in reporting progress its commitment to reduce carbon emissions. The negotiation seemed to breathe more freely after both announcements.  However, the high hopes that awaited the arrival of President Obama sunk after a lack of new movement and substance in his speech. At this writing, late in the afternoon on Friday, President Obama is in Copenhagen trying to work out an agreement that heads of state will embrace. USCAN has been working hard to achieve real action here. See our articles and video from Copenhagen to stay abreast of progress. Talk to you next week, Keith Schneider Not Done Yet While the climate negotiations here in Copenhagen have not yet concluded, one thing is clear: they would have gone better if the U.S. had already passed comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. It is critical that momentum for action on climate continues in the U.S. through the holiday season. So urge your supporters to write a letter to the editor commenting on the conclusion of the Copenhagen talks, ask them to contact their Senators and tell them it’s time to create a clean energy economy here in the U.S., or take advantage of your last chance to send comments to the EPA on the big polluters rule. For more information, contact Jennifer Kurz. CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS No Truth But Potential Consequences For Inhofe’s Strange Copenhagen Trip Dec 17 – On the day that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed up in Copenhagen to say that the U.S. would contribute to a global clean energy and climate action fund that could grow to $100 billion in spending by 2020, Senator James Inhofe also appeared in Copenhagen. Final Week of Copenhagen and the Last Act is Far From Clear Dec 14 – Seven days into the Copenhagen conference and with just five days to go, there is no clear consensus among negotiators or activists with NGO organizations about how this momentous drama will end. Big Copenhagen Climate Demonstration – Noisy, Colorful, Insistent – Pushes for Climate Action Dec 13 – Wearing polar bear costumes, red suits and dark glasses, black jeans and matching black tee-shirts, and carrying a multitude of colorful signs aimed at speeding the pace of negotiations and results, tens of thousands of people crowded into Parliament Square for a rally, and thousands more joined them for a 4-mile march to the Bella Center to present negotiators with demands as potent as their numbers. U.S. Charm Offensive at Copenhagen Climate Conference: Will it Work? Dec 10 – Numerous cabinet secretaries and high-level officials visiting Copenhagen will speak from a script about the Obama administration’s work this year to shift the federal government’s work on climate change from Bush-era denial to actual laws and regulations to limit emissions and accelerate clean energy development. DOMESTIC STORIES Report Shows Heavy Impact of Recession on Emissions Levels In the 2010 Energy Outlook reference case the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. won’t reach 2008 levels again until 2019 due to lasting impacts of the recession. Without changes to policy, emissions are expected to grow by 8.7% from 2008 to 2035. The full EIA report will be released in March. Senators Introduce Climate Proposal On Friday, Senators Maria Cantwell and Susan Collins introduced climate legislation that is being called “cap and dividend.”  The proposal would cap greenhouse gas emissions, sell pollution allowances to industry, and return 75% of the funds to American families in the form of tax-free monthly checks averaging about $1,100 annually. U.S. Announces Investment in Clean-Tech Transfer On Monday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, announced from Copenhagen the U.S. contribution of $85 million to a five-year, $350 million program with other industrialized countries aimed at speeding up the transfer of clean technologies to developing countries.  The program, called the Climate Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative, will promote the use of solar home systems, energy-efficient appliances, and other technologies that have yet to penetrate markets in parts of India, Africa, and other developing economies. National Climate Service, High-Speed Rail, Highlights of Spending Bill This week Congress passed $447 billion omnibus spending package that includes a call for the federal government to reassess organization of a planned National Climate Service.  The service would oversee development of climate models to help the business community adapt to climate change.  Also included in the appropriations bill is $2.5 billion for a nationwide high-speed rail network and a record-high $4.7 billion budget for NOAA. Climate Action Hotline is the new weekly update by the US Climate Action Network. Let us know what you think.

“It is time to stop looking in the mirror and start authorizing what the Member States could do. Now is the time for common sense, compromise and courage.” -Yvo de Boer Pope Calls for Action on Climate Change EPA Publishes Endangerment Finding, Setting Stage for Regulation Writing and Lawsuits Pentagon, CIA Eye New Threat: Climate Change AP Analysis of E-mails: Science Not Faked, But Not Pretty Toyota to Sell Plug-In Hybrid in 2011

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COPENHAGEN — On the day that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed up in Copenhagen to say that the U.S. would contribute to a global clean energy and climate action fund that could grow to $100 billion in spending by 2020, Senator James Inhofe also appeared in Copenhagen.

Earlier this month, the Oklahoma Republican and one of Capitol Hill’s fiercest critics of climate action, told reporters that he would travel to Copenhagen with a “truth squad.” Its express mission: dispute climate science and disrupt the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which ends tomorrow.

But the weight of urgency to meet tomorrow’s deadline and the intense diplomacy now occurring around the clock transformed the roar of perceived fact that Inhofe planned into a politically diminishing squeak. Briefly circled this morning by a group of reporters inside the Bella Center’s media center, Inhofe looked  uncomfortable as he accused the news media here of “being on the far left,” asserted that climate science was “debunked,” and promised that the chance of the Senate approving a proposed climate and energy bill was “zero.”

Weak Appearance
Inhofe’s conservative allies in government and the media are certain to describe his visit as a heroic act of political principle – confront the lions of climate action in their own den and all that. But a more significant outcome of Inhofe’s three-hour Copenhagen visit could be the political consequence it may produce in Washington.

The Oklahoma Republican, who steadily elevated his career to national significance – in the model of former Alabama Governor George Wallace — through calculated confrontation and rhetoric strategically calibrated to excite and inflame, miscalculated every aspect of his trip here.

The timing was wrong. The audience was not receptive. And Inhofe’s message was a blur for foreign reporters – Senate politics, hijacked emails — and old news for American journalists.

Indeed, there was real news to report. The United States started the day here with a surprising commitment to help finance a $100 billion climate and energy fund, the first time the U.S. has formally recognized the magnitude of the investment needed globally. Clinton did not specify how much the U.S. would commit or its schedule, but did say that it was predicated on the Chinese allowing the world to measure and verify carbon reductions there.

The Chinese followed later in the day – no surprise — with assurances that it would be much more open and transparent in reporting progress on commitments it made last month to reduce carbon emissions.

A Day of Progress Ignores Oklahoma Senator
The climate negotiations, fraught with disagreement and slow progress for almost two weeks, clearly seemed to open up after both announcements. NGO experts close to the delegations said the talks were starting to move with more pace. The chance that the 192 nations here would reach a deal on climate change that makes a difference came into clearer focus. In other words, there is little space today in the momentous global conversation on climate and the economy for a whiny American senator from the Great Plains.

Inhofe, in short, left Copenhagen looking weak. No doubt, the Congressional delegation that also arrived here today, led by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, took note.

Inhofe’s revealing performance capped a tough week for free market conservatives in Copenhagen. Early in the week several meetings on climate science and the stolen emails, including one organized by Americans For Prosperity, an activist organization financed in part by coal and oil interests, attracted tiny audiences of less than a dozen participants. The stolen emails, flogged by Sarah Palin and the right as evidence of a conspiracy to cook the science on warming, were ignored in Copenhagen. Instead negotiators vigorously defended the scientific consensus on the causes of climate disruption and its consequences.

Oklahoma’s Favorite Son in DC
It’s too early to tell, of course, what effect Inhofe’s visit to Copenhagen will have on his standing in Washington. It’s almost certainly not going to injure his stature in Oklahoma.

Named a senator in 1994, to replace Senator David Boren, who resigned to assume the presidency of the University of Oklahoma, Inhofe has won with strong margins three times, the latest in 2008 by gaining 57 percent of the vote.

His primary financial support comes from the fossil fuel industries whose climate science-denying interests he vigorously advances. Since 2000, according to Oil Change International, the coal and oil industries have contributed $1.13 million to his campaigns. Oklahoma is the number three producer of natural gas, the number six producer of crude oil, and is home to seven big coal-fired power plants, according to the Energy Information Administration and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

And Inhofe’s role as one of President Barack Obama’s most aggressive opponents appears as secure as any in the Senate. Just 34 percent of Oklahoma’s voters supported the president in the 2008 election. Only Wyoming disapproved of the president more.

Keith Schneider, an environmental journalist, is media and communications director at US Climate Action Network. Reach him at kschneider@climatenetwork.org

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He notes that is is “an irony of the modern world that the fate of the world is being determined by some senators in the US Congress,” and suggests that President Obama earn his Nobel Peace Prize by addressing the greatest threat to humanity and to security: climate change.

Tearfully, he concludes: “The fate of my country rests in your hands.”

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Fossil delivered to the White House:

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