WWF

Copenhagen, Denmark – The UN climate talks in Copenhagen were inches away from total failure and ended with an outcome far too weak to tackle dangerous climate change, WWF said today.

“Copenhagen was at the brink of failure due to poor leadership combined with an unconvincing level of ambition”, said Kim Carstensen, Leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative.

“Well meant but half-hearted pledges to protect our planet from dangerous climate change are simply not sufficient to address a crisis that calls for completely new ways of collaboration across rich and poor countries.”

Politicians around the world seem to be in agreement that we must stay below the 2 degree C threshold of unacceptable risks of climate change – in theory. However, practically what leaders have put on the table adds up to 3 degrees C of warming or more, according to WWF estimates.

“Millions of lives, hundreds of billions of dollars and a wealth of lost opportunities lie in the difference between rhetoric and reality on climate change action.”

Attention will now shift to follow up negotiations which need to fill out many details in the often vague accord – and, on a more positive note, to a host of initiatives by countries, cities, companies and communities that are starting to build low carbon economies from the base up.

WWF analysed the conference outcome against a 10 element scorecard, finding that none of the objectives needed to fulfil the political aim of keeping average global warming below the widely agreed 2 degree C high risk level had been met, although some had been partly fulfilled.

The draft Copenhagen Accord is a long way from developing into a legally binding framework for decisive action on climate change.

“We needed a treaty now and at best, we will be working on one in half a year’s time,” said Carstensen.

“What we have after two years of negotiation is a half-baked text of unclear substance. With the possible exceptions of US legislation and the beginnings of financial flows, none of the political obstacles to effective climate action have been solved.”

The lack of clarity is illustrated by a call for a global peak in emissions “as soon as possible”, in contrast to the 2007 call of the IPCC for emissions to peak in 2017.

Emissions reductions pledges remain far lower than what is required, with a leaked analysis by the UNFCCC secretariat showing a shortfall that would lead to 3 degrees C of warming even without considering extensive loopholes.

“We are disappointed but the story continues,” said Carstensen. “Civil society was excluded from these final negotiations to an extraordinary degree, and that was felt during the concluding days in Copenhagen.”

“We can assure the world, however, that WWF and other elements of civil society will continue engaging in every step of further negotiations.”

For further information:
Christian Teriete, Email: cteriete@wwf.org.hk, Phone: +852-9310-6805
Kim Carstensen, Email: k.carstensen@wwf.dk, Phone: +45-40-343635

Copenhagen, Denmark – The UN climate talks in Copenhagen were inches away from total failure and ended with an outcome far too weak to tackle dangerous climate change, WWF said today.

“Copenhagen was at the brink of failure due to poor leadership combined with an unconvincing level of ambition”, said Kim Carstensen, Leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative.

“Well meant but half-hearted pledges to protect our planet from dangerous climate change are simply not sufficient to address a crisis that calls for completely new ways of collaboration across rich and poor countries.”

Politicians around the world seem to be in agreement that we must stay below the 2 degree C threshold of unacceptable risks of climate change – in theory. However, practically what leaders have put on the table adds up to 3 degrees C of warming or more, according to WWF estimates.

“Millions of lives, hundreds of billions of dollars and a wealth of lost opportunities lie in the difference between rhetoric and reality on climate change action.”

Attention will now shift to follow up negotiations which need to fill out many details in the often vague accord – and, on a more positive note, to a host of initiatives by countries, cities, companies and communities that are starting to build low carbon economies from the base up.

WWF analysed the conference outcome against a 10 element scorecard, finding that none of the objectives needed to fulfil the political aim of keeping average global warming below the widely agreed 2 degree C high risk level had been met, although some had been partly fulfilled.

The draft Copenhagen Accord is a long way from developing into a legally binding framework for decisive action on climate change.

“We needed a treaty now and at best, we will be working on one in half a year’s time,” said Carstensen.

“What we have after two years of negotiation is a half-baked text of unclear substance. With the possible exceptions of US legislation and the beginnings of financial flows, none of the political obstacles to effective climate action have been solved.”

The lack of clarity is illustrated by a call for a global peak in emissions “as soon as possible”, in contrast to the 2007 call of the IPCC for emissions to peak in 2017.

Emissions reductions pledges remain far lower than what is required, with a leaked analysis by the UNFCCC secretariat showing a shortfall that would lead to 3 degrees C of warming even without considering extensive loopholes.

“We are disappointed but the story continues,” said Carstensen. “Civil society was excluded from these final negotiations to an extraordinary degree, and that was felt during the concluding days in Copenhagen.”

“We can assure the world, however, that WWF and other elements of civil society will continue engaging in every step of further negotiations.”

For further information:
Christian Teriete, Email: cteriete@wwf.org.hk, Phone: +852-9310-6805
Kim Carstensen, Email: k.carstensen@wwf.dk, Phone: +45-40-343635

In a summary of talks so far today in Copenhagen, Kim Carstensen, Leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative said:

“We are seeing a number of different texts coming forward, and there will be more drafts as the day unfolds, however, nothing we have seen so far matches the level of ambition needed on the legal nature of an agreement, or the numbers required for mitigation and finance.”

“The existing drafts contain vague language pointing towards the need to stay below a two degree temperature rise, however there is little in the detail that would ensure delivery on this in practise.”

“Having also heard some key speeches, it’s clear that there is still a real need for action. President Obama has said numerous times that all countries need to stand behind their commitments and make them transparent. That applies to the US as well. The EU appears to be weakening their conditional pledge to move to 30 per cent emissions reduction below 1990 levels, from their current position of 20 per cent, which is a real disappointment because the science clearly indicates all developed countries should be pushing for 40 per cent. We urge more progressive Member States within the EU to commit to stepping up with more ambitious targets right now.”

“China needs to move forward also. There seems to be a basis for this in Wen Jiabao’s speech, where he agreed to meet China’s current pledges without extra money, and his indication that China might be willing to do more in terms of emissions reductions and also transparency, while India has also said they would do more if they were supported.”

“Heads of State must all now take the opportunity while it still exists, to make sure that ambition within the deal is ratcheted up to a level that will ensure that they do not lock the planet on the path to a dangerous high carbon future.”

“We need a definitive target year for peak and decline of emissions, clear sources for finance for mitigation and adaption in developing countries, and an agreement for a scientific review of any deal signed, by 2014.”

For further information:
Ashwini Prabha
aprabha@wwfint.org
+41 79 873 80 99