Copenhagen, Denmark — Negotiations stalled at the beginning of the second week of the U.N. climate change conference over developing nations' concerns of the fate of the Kyoto Protocol.
African nations led the suspension of the talks over fears that developed countries were trying to shelve the Kyoto treaty beyond 2012, when it is originally set to expire. The treaty is a legally binding agreement that forces developed nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions without making demands on their developing counterparts.
African nations were also disappointed in the amount of money being offered by developed nations to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.
Negotiations resumed a few hours later, but news report suggest deep distrust lingers among developing countries about the amount of emissions industrialized nations would commit to reduce.
The temporary suspension added to the drama that's been building since the conference opened Dec. 7. It kicked off with Rajenda Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, defending the integrity of climate science following the incident dubbed Climategate, when emails from U.K. climate researchers were hacked and posted online, the content of which skeptics have seized as evidence of a climate change science cover-up.
Another leaked document -- the so-called Danish text -- also sparked controversy last week and helped set the stage for Monday's walkout of African nations. The document stirred fears of developing countries because of the perception that the document -- drawn behind closed doors -- was a prelude to kill the Kyoto Protocol.
Back in the U.S., three senators released a framework outline of principles Thursday that will lay the groundwork for a bill designed to garner broad bipartisan support. The bill, from John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), would also add support for nuclear energy, expanded offshore oil and gas drilling in order to attract Republican support. It also aims to reduce emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and 80 percent by 2050, a set of goals similar to those expected to be proposed in Copenhagen by President Barack Obama, who rearranged his schedule to be in Copenhagen at the end of the conference, when other world leaders will be present, rather than in the beginning as he'd originally announced.
Of course, emissions reduction targets of developed countries have long been a consistent sticking point throughout the climate treaty negotiating process. The U.S. target, which uses a 2005 baseline, amounts to about a 4 percent cut below 1990 levels by 2020. The EU has already committed to reducing emissions 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, but said it would increase this goal to 30 percent if other countries made similarly aggressive commitments. The EU will announce at the end of the conference its final 2020 target.
Meanwhile, more than 100 nations, including many developing countries and small island states, called for even greater emissions cuts from developed countries in order to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius; G8 countries have previously agreed to keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius.
The recently released draft text of a final Copenhagen deal reportedly asks developed countries to boost their reduction targets to 25-45 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, but leaves the question of temperature rise open. The question of financing is also to be decided in the draft. The EU has agreed to $3.6 billion a year in funding for climate change adaptation in developing countries.
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