COP15 seems to be facing hurdles. At the just held APEC summit, leaders agreed that a binding global-warming agreement at the summit was unrealistic. Also, the previously made pledge to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 has been scrapped on grounds of being “very controversial”. APEC includes the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters, China and the United States, who are disputing how to split responsibility for combating climate change as the Copenhagen summit (COP15) gets closer.
COP15 is where leaders from nearly 200 countries will set a deadline to devise a new treaty as the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. However, it now seems like the much awaited COP15 meeting is merely going to be the “staging post” and not the end point in the search for a global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The importance of summits like the COP15 and WFES cannot be undermined. They are both in their own way critical instruments in taking the climate change issue to a level that will lead to achievable solutions.
You can follow updates on the COP15 summit blog here and find out more about the WFES 2010 summit programme, here.
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We are all aware that America and China are the biggest polluters in the world and that they do not seem ready to give up on their Carbon Emissions to agree on a binding agrrement during Copehnagen. However, this should not mean that talks to agree on a common climate change agreement will fall in the cracks.