The Copenhagen Accord: UN Climate Change Conference ’takes note’ of Final Document

“We underline that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. We emphasise our strong political will to urgently combat climate change in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities…We shall, recognizing the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees Celsius, on the basis of equity and in the context of sustainable development, enhance our long-term cooperative action to combat climate change.” -The Copenhagen Accord

The Copenhagen Accord

The political agreement, brokered in down-to-the-wire negotiations spear-headed by the leaders of Brazil, India, South Africa, China and the United States, was opposed by some developing countries who called the agreement a result of a non-transparent and undemocratic process. However, on Saturday morning 19 December 2009, after negotiations carried on throughout the night, the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15) issued a final decision that “takes note of the Copenhagen Accord.”

The Copenhagen Accord sets no official emissions reductions targets and no timeline for turning the political agreement into a binding international treaty. The accord calls for the establishment of mechanisms to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) and to accelerate technology development and transfer.

While developing countries have been promised aid, many were unhappy with having been left out of the negotiations which produced the Copenhagen Accord. 75% of the growth in the world’s energy demand from 2005 to 2030 will come from developing countries, and the money pledged by developed nations will be crucial in aiding developing countries’ adaptation to climate change.

Concrete advances - What the Copenhagen Accord calls for

“We agree that deep cuts in global emissions are required according to science, and as documented by the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report with a view to reduce global emissions so as to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius, and take action to meet this objective consistent with science and on the basis of equity. We should cooperate in achieving the peaking of global and national emissions as soon as possible”

The Copenhagen Accord:

 Pledges $30 billion a year for poor countries to adapt to climate change from next year to 2012, and $100 billion a year by 2020.

 Creates a verification system for monitoring and reporting on progress on national emissions reductions targets: commitments for greenhouse gas reductions would be subject to "international consultations and analysis."

 Sets the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

 Establishes a High Level Panel to assess financial contributions by rich nations aimed at helping poor countries adapt to climate change and limit their emissions.

 Establishes a Technology Mechanism to “accelerate technology development and transfer.”

 Established the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund, which will be an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention “to support projects, programme, policies and other activities in developing countries related to mitigation including REDD-plus, adaptation, capacity-building, technology development and transfer.”

 Calls for the establishment of a mechanism “to enable the mobilization of financial resources from developed countries” to incentivize the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).

Official Reactions

President Obama called the accord “an unprecedented breakthrough” but added that “this progress did not come easily, and we know that this progress alone is not enough.”

Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was cautious in his final press briefing. Referring to the next UN-led climate negotiations, scheduled to take place one year from now, he noted that “We have a lot of work to do on the road to Mexico.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon echoed his cautious tone: "We still face serious consequences. So while I am satisfied we have a deal here in Copenhagen, I am aware that it is just the beginning. It will take more than this to definitively tackle climate change, but it is a step in the right direction."

Others were more critical, including Mr. Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, of Sudan, who had been representing the G77: “Today’s events, which really are a continuation of the history of the negotiations for the last two years, represent the worst development in climate change negotiations in history”

Civil Society: Hope and disappointment

Reactions from civil society on the outcome of the Copenhagen Conference were mixed. Some from civil society saw the accord as a disappointing ending to a contentious two-year process, some saw it as a sign that a new kind of forum for climate negotiations was needed, while others focussed on the potential of the accord to provide the basis for a future legally-binding deal.

In a press release following the Copenhagen Accord, Kim Carstensen, Leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative, said “Well meant but half-hearted pledges to protect our planet from dangerous climate change are simply not sufficient to address a crisis that calls for completely new ways of collaboration across rich and poor countries….What we have after two years of negotiation is a half-baked text of unclear substance. With the possible exceptions of US legislation and the beginnings of financial flows, none of the political obstacles to effective climate action have been solved.”

“Our world leaders chose national political self-interest over the fate of future generations and failed to resolve the issues blocking the road towards a just outcome" stated the TckTckTck Campaign.

Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International, reacted by noting that “Those most responsible for putting the planet in this mess have not shown the guts required to fix it and have instead acted to protect short-term political interests.”

"The only real leadership at the conference has come from the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who’ve come together to demand strong action to prevent climate catastrophe. Their voices are loud and growing.”

And this is where hope mingles with disappointment among civil society representatives, in the recognition that millions of people around the world had joined forces to bring climate justice to the table and that they will continue to do so, even though the negotiations did not bring the results hoped for.

“Despite the lack of results in key areas, Copenhagen has at least helped set the stage for progress. We call on world leaders to meet again within months to meet the expectation of the world’s people and conclude such a treaty." - said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder.

Oxfam’s climate change adviser Antonio Hill said “The Copenhagen Accord is hugely disappointing but it also reveals how the traditional approach to international negotiations, based on brinkmanship and national self-interest, is both unfit for pursuing our common destiny and downright dangerous”

Civil Society Presence

Throughout the two weeks of the Copenhagen Summit, civil society had mobilised itself increasingly around a Climate Justice Agenda, demanding a fair deal based on justice, equity and human rights, and addressing issues such as carbon trade, gender, REDD, rural-urban divides, indigenous rights and displaced people.

They organized side events at the Bella Centre and the Klimaforum, held awareness raising campaigns, as well as a march in which more than 100.000 people participated, and tried to form a People’s Assembly just outside the Bella Centre to have a more inclusive process. However, especially during the second week of the negotiations civil society was faced with harsher security controls, and diminished access to the Bella Centre.

At the Klimaforum, the civil society counterpart to the UN Conference, various civil society groups, including social and environmental movements, trade unions, farmers, and other aligned parties, worked towards their own People’s Declaration, entitled System Change – Not Climate Change. This declaration, signed by more than 360 organizations, calls “upon every person, organization, government, and institution, including the United Nations (UN)…. to unite and transform the dominant social and economic system as well as global governance, which currently block necessary solutions to the climate crisis.”

Youth: “World leaders are not done yet, and neither are we”

Many youth representatives were present in Copenhagen to demonstrate their concerns on climate change and the impacts their generation might face in the years to come. Although many youth organizations had their own programmes in Copenhagen, they also joined hands through YOUNGO, and brought a common message to world leaders: “Survival is not Negotiable; Justice is not Negotiable; No decision about us without us.”

In a joint statement, youth organizations called for a maximum temperature rise of no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius and for Annex I countries to reduce their CO2 emissions with at least 45 percent by 2020 and 95 percent by 2050. The statement also emphasized the need to develop, monitor and implement carbon reduction action plans and climate response strategies and for the developed world to recognize their historical responsibility and repay their climate debt.

Youth representatives called the results of the negotiations in Copenhagen a “Climate Shame,” nevertheless emphasized that it is impossible to be without hope as world leaders are not done yet, and neither are they. In a joint letter to the world they stated:

“The global climate movement – more diverse than ever before – stands united in the face of tonight’s disappointing news….We have come so far in a short space of time. Millions around the world look to the future and see hope, justice, and opportunity. It is up to each of us to make our voices heard and to get the real deal that the world needs. The world’s leaders still have a chance to get it right. They must realize that we expect, and will not accept, anything less.”

Related Links

Read the Copenhagen Accord here

Read Oxfam’s Briefing Note here

Watch Yvo de Boer’s closing press briefing here"

Read about the accord on the Denmark government’s conference webpage

See also the YOUNGO webpage for an overview of youth statements on climate change that were made throughout 2008-2009.

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