2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference
Logo of the climate conference 2009Vorlage: Infobox / Maintenance / image
The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen took place between 18 December 2009 at Bella Center from 7. She was the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Climate Convention of the United Nations and put the fifth meeting of the Kyoto Protocol represents the climate conference was with about 27,000 participants, including 10,500 government delegates, "one of the largest gatherings of diplomatic history " and was in described given the same result as " one of the least successful ."
At the conference, delegates reached agreement on only a " minimum consensus ". In the Copenhagen Accord, an international non-legally binding and only taken by States Parties to "take note ", but not formally adopted paper, the target is mentioned, to limit global warming to less than 2 ° C compared to pre-industrial levels. The Bali Roadmap 2007, in contrast, provided for Copenhagen adopting a binding regime on climate change after 2012.
Background and objectives
The conference followed the "Climate Conference: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions", a scientific meeting, which also took place in March 2009 at the Bella Center. The objective of the UNFCCC is to prevent dangerous interference with the climate system. This can only be achieved according to the environmental program of the United Nations, if global warming to 2 degrees Celsius is limited. The European Union has already adopted this target the mid-1990s as its own. It means that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced in the developed industrial countries by 2050 (compared to 1990) by 80 to 95 percent.
In the run was negotiated at conferences in Bonn, Barcelona and Bangkok. The preliminary hearing of the Ad Hoc Working Group under the Kyoto Protocol ( AWG -KP ) was still far from a conclusion. A preliminary draft of the agreement has already been published.
Interests of the participants
The participating States had different negotiating objectives due to their different conditions. In the U.S., the National Climate Change Bill was being discussed in the Senate; the country is deeply divided on issues of climate policy. Although the government may again regulate the emissions of greenhouse gases even without the Senate, but seeks U.S. President Barack Obama to avoid massive internal political resistance after a legislative solution that incorporates the Senate. The countries previously unaffected by the reduction commitments with great economic growth, such as India and the People's Republic of China, saw the target in a continuation of the Kyoto Protocol, but wanted to prevent that they would even make binding concessions (example India see :). Other key roles in the negotiation process were attributed to individual EU countries. The developing and emerging countries as early as October 2009 at the Bangkok Conference had under Chinese leadership industrialized countries accused of sabotaging a possible agreement in Copenhagen at the expense of poorer countries.
Alongside the conference a variety of environmental organizations and NGOs were involved. On the part of the environmental organization Greenpeace, which was accredited as an observer at the conference was, in a gala dinner attended by the Danish Queen talking with the motto politicians, leaders act not find specified demand for a " binding and ambitious " conclusion of negotiations brought. In contrast, controversial opinions on current dealing with climate change as well as to possible solutions were expressed, such as Survival International, an NGO for tribal peoples, according to some countermeasures to climate change such as biofuels, hydroelectric power stations and protective measures for certain forest types for indigenous peoples clearly negative consequences have.
In addition to the official delegates and accredited NGO delegates also many individuals came to protest for a fair climate agreement. The majority of registered demonstrations were organized by the Network for Climate Justice Action. At the protests was repeatedly pointed out by various activists on the democratic deficit in the negotiations and in the structures of the United Nations. This opinion was confirmed by the Head of Delegation of the European and Pan -African Parliament, which called for a renewal of the decision-making processes.
The Danish government and local industry representatives promoted at the conference as part of a Public Private Partnership for Danish environmental technology.
Events leading up to
In November 2009, among other things, about 60 Nobel laureates had appealed to the Government to agree in Copenhagen to a sustainable climate agreement and to combat the problems associated with climate change issues.
Medial sensation due to the proximity to the conference attracted the hacker incident on climate research center of the University of East Anglia, which was partially interpreted as sabotage attempt against a possible conference final. Among other things, expressed the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki -moon at the conference of the affair and contradicted isolated interpretations of the anthropogenic component of global warming is to be provided by the incident in question.
Before the conference, a meeting of mayors for the presentation and coordination of regional climate action took place.
Conference History
The conference was initially led by the former Danish Minister for the Environment and designated EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard. After their withdrawal on 16 December took Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the negotiation line, which he in turn gave on the last day of the summit. Negotiation management and organization of the conference was described from participants, among other circles as chaotic and overwhelmed.
During the conference, the conflict with the developing countries escalated after the title Danish text an internal negotiation paper was known, which wanted the developing countries concede lower CO2 emission rights.
Bolivian President Evo Morales demanded that the industrialized countries towards the countries of the South to pay their " climate debt ". In addition, global warming by the end of the century to a maximum of one degree Celsius compared to pre-industrial times would be limited. He proposed the establishment of an international tribunal for climate law. Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez stressed that whether it is the rich countries that destroy the planet. Seven percent of the world's population are responsible for 50 percent of emissions, while the 50 percent at the lower end of the social scale caused only about seven percent of the emissions. In the conflict between the U.S. and China Chávez pointed to the inequality of the blame for the global warming out: " The U.S. has only just 300 million people, live in China five times more people. The U.S. consumes about 20 million barrels per day of oil, China is on five or six million barrels. "
As much for the failure is considered the lack of agreement between China and the United States. During the conference, President Obama, according to newspaper reports tried to reach a compromise wording night in direct negotiations with the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao Wen and met in a round with the Government of India, Brazil and South Africa.
After an initial consultation and a late night impromptu, all-American press conference traveled from Obama as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, without the American- Chinese compromise formula had been agreed with other participants in the negotiations about from Europe. In the subsequent plenary this is rejected, even the Chinese side moved away from the American success message. Here, Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Sudan and Saudi Arabia threatened a veto, which would have triggered the conference termination. In contrast to the Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi, who held the paper presented compromise acceptable, Lumumba Di - Aping solved, the Sudanese chief negotiator for the Group of 77, from a scandal. The diplomat said in plenary, the implementation would cost millions of people their lives. He also compared the refusal of developed countries to provide developing countries without further preconditions significant resources to combat climate change are available, with the genocide of the European Jews, which was indignantly rejected from several sides. It succeeded According to newspaper information to some participants, the British Ed Miliband to avoid, among other things, a further escalation to refer Di - Aping into the barriers and to come to a conference final.
The general protective measures, limitations of the right to demonstrate in some areas as well as protests and demonstrations in the vicinity of the conference led to the biggest police operation in Danish history. The chief editors of the German television station ZDF and ARD demanded in a letter of protest to repeal significant limitations of coverage at the climate summit. A particular challenge was the vicinity of the Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen, which is a center of alternative culture in Denmark and earlier starting point of demonstrations and riots in the context of globalization -critical actions was. A total of 1915 protesters were arrested and taken to the " climate prison " in Valby, which consisted of cages in a multi-purpose hall.
Result
The United Nations has neither the destination from the Bali roadmap reached to adopt in Copenhagen for a legally binding successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, nor the often mentioned in the run-up to the Copenhagen conference goal of a commitment to halve global carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2050. the central outcome document, the " Copenhagen Accord" is not legally binding, but contains as a minimum consensus for the first time the specific objective of keeping global warming to less than 2 ° C compared to pre-industrial levels. As this can be achieved, but remained unclear. The delegates agreed neither on concrete targets for reducing greenhouse gas still on a roadmap for the way forward.
The Copenhagen Accord, however, can be signed by all member states of the UNFCCC. Its main contents: Global warming should be limited to less than 2 degrees Celsius. This requires " deep cuts in emissions " is needed; binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are lacking, however. Instead, the industrialized countries should enter by the end of January 2010 their respective reduction targets by 2020 in an Annex I; compliance with these commitments to be as well as the financial support of poor countries monitored in line with international guidelines of the Conference of the Parties. The non- industrialized countries are also to end of January 2010, register their activities to reduce global warming in Annex II, which is updated every two years. You can even monitor compliance and the results must be notified; but as the action by developed countries are monitored internationally by the industrialized countries financed measures. The importance of conservation of forests and their extension for climate protection is explicitly recognized, are for their protection mechanisms are introduced as REDD -plus. For these measures - including the protection of forests - and for adaptation to the impacts of climate change in poor countries are in the period 2010 to 2012 30 U.S. $ billion available from 2020 it will be 100 billion U.S. $ per year. The money is to be largely distributed over a re- founding " Copenhagen Green Climate Fund ". Implementation of this agreement will be reviewed in 2015; then it should also be checked if the long-term goal of limiting global warming must be reduced to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Balance
The total cost of the conference is estimated to be just under 150 million euros. The CO2 emissions during and through the conference with 16,500 participants corresponded with about 40,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent that which dismissed the British city Middlesbrough during the duration of the conference in the atmosphere .. Opposite the conference in Bali with about 100,000 tons could the ecological footprint are therefore considerably reduced.
After the Hartwell Paper, which in May 2010 published by the London School of Economics in collaboration with the University of Oxford is the post-Kyoto process with the outcome of the conference in Copenhagen finally be regarded as failed. The Kyoto Protocol and its sequel has in no significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in 15 years.
Hermann Scheer as president of the interest group Euro Solar and winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize keeps the failure of the climate summit for not surprising. Propagated by him, focused on the nation-state model of the Renewable Energy Sources Act is clearly more promising than global solutions in the context of emissions trading.
On the first trading day of the European Climate Exchange after the close of the conference, the prices for emission allowances fell by almost 7% to its lowest level since March 2009. Prices for issued under the Clean Development Mechanism carbon credits also fell by about 7%.
Mass arrests
The climate summit was accompanied by demonstrations and " preventive " mass arrests. The Danish government had issued shortly before the summit fast-tracked a package of special laws, which was designated by the government itself as " Lømmelpakke " ( " lout package"). Among other things, it allows preventive detention of up to 12 hours in case of suspicion may " order and safety hazardous " intentions. Because of this special legislation more than 2,000 people had been deprived of their freedom without them had been accused of criminal acts during the summit at times. There are audio recordings of the police officer in charge calling upon the officials not only on the demonstrators, but also to the journalists who were there, einzuknüppeln " until the baton is glowing red ."