AP image
Copenhagen:
After hectic negotiations, finally a breakthrough at the climate talks.
The United States and the BASIC countries, which include India and China, have agreed on a deal. The accord was finalised after US-Basic and US-EU meetings.
US President Obama said the deal is not legally binding, but will have countries lay out their emissions targets. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh says it's a good deal for India
Obama said for the first time in history, all major economies have come to take action against climate change.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh says it's a good deal for India.
President Barack Obama declared on Friday at the Copenhagen climate summit a "meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough" had been reached among the US, China, India and two other countries on a global effort to curb climate change but said much work was still be needed to reach a legally binding treaty.
"It is going to be very hard, and it's going to take some time," he said at the conclusion of a 193-nation global warming summit. "We have come a long way, but we have much further to go."
The president said there was a "fundamental deadlock in perspectives" between big, industrially developed countries like the United States and poorer, though sometimes large, developing nations. Still he said this week's efforts "will help us begin to meet our responsibilities to leave our children and grandchildren a cleaner planet."
If the countries had waited to reach a full, binding agreement, "then we wouldn't make any progress," Obama said. In that case, he said, "there might be such frustration and cynicism that rather than taking one step forward we ended up taking two steps back."
The limited agreement by the US, China, Brazil, India and South Africa reflected the intense political and economic obstacles that had blocked a binding accord to restrict emissions of "greenhouse gases" believed to be causing a dangerous warming of the Earth.
A senior administration official says the agreement between the countries also requires each country to list the actions they will take to cut global warming pollution by specific amounts.
The deal reiterates a goal set earlier this year on long-term emissions cuts and provides a mechanism to be help poor countries prepare for climate change.
Emphasising that the agreement was a foundation for global action on climate change, Obama said that the deal is not legally binding.
However, Obama administration official said that no country was entirely satisfied with the agreement hammered out after Obama met with BASIC countries for many hours.
The accord calls for the participating countries to list specific actions they have taken to control emissions and the commitments they are willing to make to achieve deeper reductions.
There would be a method for verifying reductions of heat-trapping gases, a senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity before Obama made his comments.
Obama said the five nation's pledges would be "subject to an international consultation" that will allow each country to "show the world what they're doing."
China's resistance to a verification mechanism had been one of the major sticking points for the US during the two weeks of climate negotiations here.
"We're in this together, and we'll know who is meeting and not meeting the mutual obligations that are set forth," Obama said.
As for the US, he said, "We will not be legally bound by anything that took place here today," pre-emptively answering congressional critics who had warned repeatedly that Congress will have the final say in any US emission reduction commitments.
The deal also would provide a mechanism to help poor countries pay for dealing with climate change.
The president had planned to spend only about nine hours in Copenhagen as the summit wrapped up after two weeks. But, as an agreement appeared within reach, he added extended his stay by more than six hours to attend a series of meetings aimed at brokering a deal.
"We are running short on time," Obama had told the summit as the clock was running out on its final day. "There has to be movement on all sides."
He met with other leaders, including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Late in the evening, Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held talks with European leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Asked how negotiations were going as he entered the meeting, Obama replied: "Always hopeful."
The agreement was reached after a meeting among President Barack Obama and ChinesePremier Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South AfricanPresident Jacob Zuma.
Agreement with smaller group
The agreement was with the smaller group of countries, but was beingworked by Obama and various negotiating teams with a larger number ofcountries, the official said.
NDTV spoke to to Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the man behind all this.
He told NDTV: "Though a small group of countries have reached agreement (read US, BASIC countries), we have to see how broader constituency reacts."
De Boer said that he's waiting to see what the reaction is. However, he added "I am happier than I was a couple of hours back".
Commenting on the deal De Boer said: "I would say we have achieved moderate success, but we should have done better."
Earlier NDTV reported that a deal was about to be signed after Obama and many other heads of states delayed their departure. India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had told NDTV that the world was close to a deal at the summit.
"A non-legally binding Copenhagen agreement is expected (in some time)," Ramesh said after US President Barack Obama had unscheduled meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leaders of China, Brazil and South Africa in a bid to forge a consensus.
He said the talks with Americans was "successful". Obama met the leaders of BASIC countries when they were discussing a fresh draft on the outcome.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who delayed his departure in order to participate in the talks with US president Barack Obama, is likely to fly back on Saturday.
The world summit on climate change went down to the wire on Friday night with negotiators guided by heads of government making vigorous attempts to come out with a deal on fighting the challenge of global warming.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was scheduled to leave the Danish capital by early evening, was back at the conference venue like President Barack Obama delaying their return home.
They altered their travel plans as UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon gave a call to world leaders to defer their departures by a day.
British Premier Gordon Brown met French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy at the Summit venue.
It is understood that the Australians, the French and the Danish have sought a review of whole process in 2016, which effectively would amount to killing the Protocol.
Earlier at the UN climate conference, President Barack Obama met privately with China's premier as world leaders.
But neither Obama nor Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao offered any new commitments to cut the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming as they addressed the conference. And Wen skipped a high-level meeting of 20 nations, sending an envoy instead.
"We are ready to get this done today but there has to be movement on all sides to recognize that is better for us to act rather than talk," Obama said, insisting on a transparent way to monitor each nation's pledges to cut emissions.
Working into the night and even delaying his departure, Obama scheduled a second one-on-one meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao after an earlier session of nearly an hour. Officials said the two men made a step forward in their talks, but the degree of progress was not clear.
Wen told delegates that China's voluntary targets of reducing its carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent will require "tremendous efforts."
As negotiations evolved, new drafts of the document, titled the Copenhagen Accord, emerged with key clauses being updated and modified. Later drafts said rich countries should cut their greenhouse emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050.
A clause was dropped that had called on developing countries to reduce emissions by 15-30 percent below "business as usual," that is, judged against the level had no action been taken.
Some drafts called for a legally binding treaty within six months or no later than December 2010.
Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his speech said "Copenhagen may fall short of expectations" as US President Obama made it clear that verification and monitoring has to be part of an overall world deal.
Manmohan Singh stressed that developed countries cannot abandon the Kyoto Protocol under which developed countries are legally-bound to cut their emissions. That agreement expires in 2012. "Each one of us gathered here today acknowledges that those most affected by climate change are the least responsible for it," Singh said.
He added that India will deliver its voluntary target of reducing carbon intensity by 20 per cent by 2020. This refers to the measure of emissions per unit of economic activity. "We have a difficult task ahead of us. I hope we will play a positive and constructive role so that we bridge our differences and come out with a balanced and an equitable outcome in the coming years. India will not be found wanting in this," he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
The United States and the BASIC countries, which include India and China, have agreed on a deal. The accord was finalised after US-Basic and US-EU meetings.
US President Obama said the deal is not legally binding, but will have countries lay out their emissions targets. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh says it's a good deal for India
Obama said for the first time in history, all major economies have come to take action against climate change.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh says it's a good deal for India.
President Barack Obama declared on Friday at the Copenhagen climate summit a "meaningful and unprecedented breakthrough" had been reached among the US, China, India and two other countries on a global effort to curb climate change but said much work was still be needed to reach a legally binding treaty.
"It is going to be very hard, and it's going to take some time," he said at the conclusion of a 193-nation global warming summit. "We have come a long way, but we have much further to go."
The president said there was a "fundamental deadlock in perspectives" between big, industrially developed countries like the United States and poorer, though sometimes large, developing nations. Still he said this week's efforts "will help us begin to meet our responsibilities to leave our children and grandchildren a cleaner planet."
If the countries had waited to reach a full, binding agreement, "then we wouldn't make any progress," Obama said. In that case, he said, "there might be such frustration and cynicism that rather than taking one step forward we ended up taking two steps back."
The limited agreement by the US, China, Brazil, India and South Africa reflected the intense political and economic obstacles that had blocked a binding accord to restrict emissions of "greenhouse gases" believed to be causing a dangerous warming of the Earth.
A senior administration official says the agreement between the countries also requires each country to list the actions they will take to cut global warming pollution by specific amounts.
The deal reiterates a goal set earlier this year on long-term emissions cuts and provides a mechanism to be help poor countries prepare for climate change.
Emphasising that the agreement was a foundation for global action on climate change, Obama said that the deal is not legally binding.
However, Obama administration official said that no country was entirely satisfied with the agreement hammered out after Obama met with BASIC countries for many hours.
The accord calls for the participating countries to list specific actions they have taken to control emissions and the commitments they are willing to make to achieve deeper reductions.
There would be a method for verifying reductions of heat-trapping gases, a senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity before Obama made his comments.
Obama said the five nation's pledges would be "subject to an international consultation" that will allow each country to "show the world what they're doing."
China's resistance to a verification mechanism had been one of the major sticking points for the US during the two weeks of climate negotiations here.
"We're in this together, and we'll know who is meeting and not meeting the mutual obligations that are set forth," Obama said.
As for the US, he said, "We will not be legally bound by anything that took place here today," pre-emptively answering congressional critics who had warned repeatedly that Congress will have the final say in any US emission reduction commitments.
The deal also would provide a mechanism to help poor countries pay for dealing with climate change.
The president had planned to spend only about nine hours in Copenhagen as the summit wrapped up after two weeks. But, as an agreement appeared within reach, he added extended his stay by more than six hours to attend a series of meetings aimed at brokering a deal.
"We are running short on time," Obama had told the summit as the clock was running out on its final day. "There has to be movement on all sides."
He met with other leaders, including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Late in the evening, Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held talks with European leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Asked how negotiations were going as he entered the meeting, Obama replied: "Always hopeful."
The agreement was reached after a meeting among President Barack Obama and ChinesePremier Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South AfricanPresident Jacob Zuma.
Agreement with smaller group
The agreement was with the smaller group of countries, but was beingworked by Obama and various negotiating teams with a larger number ofcountries, the official said.
NDTV spoke to to Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the man behind all this.
He told NDTV: "Though a small group of countries have reached agreement (read US, BASIC countries), we have to see how broader constituency reacts."
De Boer said that he's waiting to see what the reaction is. However, he added "I am happier than I was a couple of hours back".
Commenting on the deal De Boer said: "I would say we have achieved moderate success, but we should have done better."
Earlier NDTV reported that a deal was about to be signed after Obama and many other heads of states delayed their departure. India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had told NDTV that the world was close to a deal at the summit.
"A non-legally binding Copenhagen agreement is expected (in some time)," Ramesh said after US President Barack Obama had unscheduled meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leaders of China, Brazil and South Africa in a bid to forge a consensus.
He said the talks with Americans was "successful". Obama met the leaders of BASIC countries when they were discussing a fresh draft on the outcome.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who delayed his departure in order to participate in the talks with US president Barack Obama, is likely to fly back on Saturday.
The world summit on climate change went down to the wire on Friday night with negotiators guided by heads of government making vigorous attempts to come out with a deal on fighting the challenge of global warming.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was scheduled to leave the Danish capital by early evening, was back at the conference venue like President Barack Obama delaying their return home.
They altered their travel plans as UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon gave a call to world leaders to defer their departures by a day.
British Premier Gordon Brown met French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy at the Summit venue.
It is understood that the Australians, the French and the Danish have sought a review of whole process in 2016, which effectively would amount to killing the Protocol.
Earlier at the UN climate conference, President Barack Obama met privately with China's premier as world leaders.
But neither Obama nor Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao offered any new commitments to cut the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming as they addressed the conference. And Wen skipped a high-level meeting of 20 nations, sending an envoy instead.
"We are ready to get this done today but there has to be movement on all sides to recognize that is better for us to act rather than talk," Obama said, insisting on a transparent way to monitor each nation's pledges to cut emissions.
Working into the night and even delaying his departure, Obama scheduled a second one-on-one meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao after an earlier session of nearly an hour. Officials said the two men made a step forward in their talks, but the degree of progress was not clear.
Wen told delegates that China's voluntary targets of reducing its carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent will require "tremendous efforts."
As negotiations evolved, new drafts of the document, titled the Copenhagen Accord, emerged with key clauses being updated and modified. Later drafts said rich countries should cut their greenhouse emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050.
A clause was dropped that had called on developing countries to reduce emissions by 15-30 percent below "business as usual," that is, judged against the level had no action been taken.
Some drafts called for a legally binding treaty within six months or no later than December 2010.
Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his speech said "Copenhagen may fall short of expectations" as US President Obama made it clear that verification and monitoring has to be part of an overall world deal.
Manmohan Singh stressed that developed countries cannot abandon the Kyoto Protocol under which developed countries are legally-bound to cut their emissions. That agreement expires in 2012. "Each one of us gathered here today acknowledges that those most affected by climate change are the least responsible for it," Singh said.
He added that India will deliver its voluntary target of reducing carbon intensity by 20 per cent by 2020. This refers to the measure of emissions per unit of economic activity. "We have a difficult task ahead of us. I hope we will play a positive and constructive role so that we bridge our differences and come out with a balanced and an equitable outcome in the coming years. India will not be found wanting in this," he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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