Even without consensus, UN "takes note" of Copenhagen Accord

Secretariat for Social Communication of the Presidency of Brazil

The 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference closed officially on December 19. The main outcome of the Conference was the "Copenhagen Accord", drafted by a limited group of countries on December 18 and formally accepted by the UN.

Without unanimous approval, the accord will have an annex with the list of countries against it. The initiative of "taking note" was the solution found to give sufficient legal status and functionality to the document without the necessity of approval by the parties.

According to the Danish paper "Berlingske", the Chairman of COP15, the Danish Prime-Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, is pleased with the outcome. "We have been achieving results. Now, nations will have to sign the agreement and, if they do, what was agreed will have an immediate effect", he underlined.

Many leaders do not have the same optimism of the Danish Prime-Minister. On Friday afternoon (18 Dec), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had already announced his frustration with the Climate Conference. "If at this point we still could not draw up this document, I don't know if an angel or wise man will descend to this plenary session and will give us the intelligence we haven't found up to now", admonished the Brazilian President.

According to Environment Minister Carlos Minc, who was heading the Brazilian delegation in the final moments of the Conference, the accord is insufficient to provide countries, especially the poorest, with conditions to act effectively.

According to the text, rich countries have committed themselves to donate US$ 30 billions in the next three years for a fund against global warming. The agreement foresees US$ 100 billions per year, in 2020. "This is insufficient, we will keep fighting for the planet", said Minc.

Minister Carlos Minc highlighted that the amount given to the fund up to 2012 - US$ 10 billions per year - is less than Brazil will spend to achieve its voluntary target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in up to 39% by 2020.

He explained that, in order to achieve this goal, Brazil will spend US$ 16 billion per year. "This amount of US$ 30 billion for all countries is less than what Brazil alone will spend to meet our goals, as approved by our parliament", underlined Minc.

The document also says that developed countries are committed to an 80% emissions cut by 2050. For 2020, however, they have presented a proposal of reducing up to 20% of emissions, which is less than what is recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which suggests reductions from 25 to 40% by 2020.

According to the Secretary of Climate Change and Environmental Quality at the Ministry of the Environment and member of IPCC, Suzana Kahn, the outcome of COP15 was disappointing, as discussions of heads of state were more centered in the economic issues of rich and emerging nations, while ignoring those that will suffer the effects of climate change more severely.

"There are many African countries, for instance, that will suffer intensely with the temperature raise. However, it seems that the discussion has taken an economical and political approach, something that I find very alarming. The climate issue transcends the environmental frontier. It is a development, justice and equity matter", stated Suzana Kahn.

Main points of Copenhagen Accord:

- The accord has a non-binding character, but an attached proposal asks for the establishment of a legally-binding agreement until the end of next year. It considers a maximum temperature raise of two degrees Celsius but does not specify the necessary emissions cut to reach this target.

- It establishes an annual contribution of US$ 10 billions between 2010 and 2012 for the most vulnerable countries to tackle the effects of climate change, and US$ 100 billions per year from 2020 for mitigation and adaptation. Part of the funds, US$ 25.2 billions, will come from the US, EU and Japan. According to the presented proposal, the US will contribute with US$ 3.6 billions in the three year period 2010-12. In the same period, Japan will contribute with US$ 11 billions and the European Union will donate US$ 10.6 billions.

- The text of the agreement also establishes that countries should provide "National Communications" on how they are tackling global warming, through "international consultations and analysis under clearly defined guidelines". The text says "Developed countries shall provide adequate (&) financial resources, technology and capacity-building to support the implementation of adaptation action in developing countries".

- Details of the mitigation plans are presented in two annexes of the Copenhagen Accord, one with objectives for the developed nations and the other one with voluntary commitments from key developing countries, such as Brazil.

- The agreement "recognizes the crucial role of reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation", and agrees to promote "positive incentives" to finance such actions with resources from developed countries.