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On December 18, 2009, countries at the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen committed to the "Copenhagen Accord" —  an agreement that brings major emitters from both developed and developing countries together in an international framework for addressing climate change. This accord and accompanying decisions will:

• provide an opportunity for both developed and developing countries to register and account for emissions reductions targets and actions;
• mobilize countries in a joint effort to commit up to $100 billion per year in public and private finance over the long-term to help developing countries tackle climate change, and 
• jump start these efforts with $30 billion in funding over the next 3 years.

So, when all is said and done, was Copenhagen a success or failure? Is the world any closer to tackling climate change on a global scale?

Hear what Nature Conservancy climate change and international policy experts have to say about it below. And then weigh in with your own opinion about Copenhagen at the Conservancy’s blog, Cool Green Science.

Question: Nature.org:

Answer:

Andrew Deutz, director of international government relations: Copenhagen crystallized the political will to act on climate change, but did not crystallize the specifics about how far to go and how to get there.

But the international discussions will continue, and particular issues that were not resolved here will continue to be negotiated over the next year in hopes of strengthening this agreement. Issues still to be resolved include:

• overall emissions reduction goals and specific targets,
• a strong framework to reduce deforestation emissions,
• specific financing and ways to help countries adapt to climate change and
• funding mechanisms that will enable public and private climate financing to be delivered quickly to countries who need it.

However, the significance of convening nearly 120 presidents and prime ministers around the climate change negotiations should not be lost. Having the presidents and prime ministers of countries from the United States, Brazil and China to the Maldives and France sit down to negotiate on climate change means this issue has taken root as a core global issue.

When an issue has this level of political attention, we can hope to see more and more international cooperation inside and outside the UN climate negotiations.

Question: Nature.org:

Answer:

Duncan Marsh, director of international climate policy: Due to the very difficult two weeks of negotiations that preceded the agreement, there was not time to finalize the accompanying detailed decision texts, including those on forests and adaptation.
 
There's a great deal of work still to be done to adequately address climate change.  The levels of short-term reductions left in the agreement are disappointing and they remain below what the science tells us we need.

Nevertheless, the global leadership demonstrated by the heads of many developed and developing countries has been encouraging.
 
While the countries agreed to take action aimed at limiting temperature rises to no more than 2 degrees C, we are disappointed in the lack of agreement on a long-term global target to reduce emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels by mid-century — which some large developing countries oppose. This type of specific goal is crucial to focusing countries' efforts toward a common end-point and is essential for us to achieve our mission of protecting plants, animals and natural communities around the world.
 
We are very encouraged that President Calderon of Mexico, which will host next year’s conference, has expressed a strong commitment to getting a robust agreement done on reducing deforestation.

Question: Nature.org:

Answer:

Andrew Deutz: The negotiating text is only one part of the story. The conference also generated significant new financial commitments and opportunities to highlight nature-based solutions that are available today.  

Donor governments agreed to mobilize $30 billion dollars over the next three years to jump start efforts in developing countries around climate change mitigation and adaptation, including pledges of $3.5 billion over three years just for reducing emissions from deforestation that was catalyzed by a $1 billion announcement from the United States.  

At several events in Copenhagen, the Conservancy featured its groundbreaking work around the world to demonstrate how saving forests and using nature to help people adapt are crucial and effective solutions to climate change challenges.

The high-level event on adaptation that we organized with partners catalyzed commitments from a dozen or so governments, agencies and companies to undertake real work on the ground to demonstrate how to build the resilience of communities by protecting the natural systems they depend on.

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