UPDATE 7:55 a.m – Chuck Olson reports that the talks are back on after a meeting between the African bloc and Conie Heegard. Here’s the link – can’t confirm, because I don’t read Danish.
Endnu et lille drama er nu historie på klimakonferencen i Bella Center.
Efter et møde med COP15-formand Connie Hedegaard er forhandlerne fra de afrikanske lande og gruppen af verdens fattigste lande blevet enige om at genoptage møderne.
The African bloc walked out of climate change negotiations today, stopping all talks at the Copenhagen climate change meeting, according to BBC. The Washington Post reported that the entire G77 bloc of developing nations has walked out.
The group of developing nations, known as the G-77, accused the United States and other industrialized countries of forsaking the Kyoto Protocol, the climate agreement currently in effect.
While Kyoto exempts emerging economies from binding cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. and other rich nations want a new climate agreement to apply to major developing nations. The G-77 countries are pushing back against that approach, saying such a pact could pose less stringent requirements on industrialized countries than Kyoto does, and would not deliver the global emissions cuts they seek.
This is the week that more than 110 heads of state are scheduled to arrive at the climate conference, hoping for a big agreement to be signed with fanfare. Both President Obama and China’s Premier are slated to appear and declare success with some kind of deal that doesn’t quite reach the status of a treaty, according to NPR.
Mary Turck
News Day 