The UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen is over, with an accord that's generally agreed on, but no binding agreement. Next year another attempt will be made in Mexico City. Here's part of the recap from Time :
Some of the poorer developing countries kept the proceedings frozen with procedural objection after procedural objection, while major economies like the U.S. and China brought little new to the summit and barely budged from their negotiation positions. In the end, all that was produced was an interim accord barely worth the name. It was bitterly attacked by many environmentalists, and even its chief architect, President Barack Obama, admitted the pact was "not enough" and that "we have a long way to go."
The accord keeps the objective to keep the maximum temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius. It also includes plans to create emission reduction targets for developed countries and mitigation action by developing countries for 2020. It includes 30 billion (USD) short-term funding for immediate action till 2012 and 100 billion (USD) annually by 2020 in long-term financing, as well as mechanisms to support technology transfer.
One good thing to come out of this years talks is that the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), originally dicussed at the Kyoto talks, was reintroduced. This plan sets up a system where rainforest countries are reimbursed by wealthier countries to preserve their trees. The logging and burning of tropical rainforests accounts for around 15% of global carbon emissions.
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