COP15 is entering the home stretch, as Tuesday evening marks the beginning of the final, high-level segment of the conference. Expect far more high-level speeches and op-eds in the coming days; despite the posturing and statements, the final outcome of the negotiations will not be known until late Friday.
Moving Too Slowly? Due to a large number of setbacks and stalling by different parties to the negotiations, there is concern that negotiations are moving too slowly to reach an agreement by the end of the conference on Friday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who is at the conference, has warned that “time is running out” and UNFCCC head Yvo de Boer has warned that the parties are still far from agreement on many fronts. The issues of transparency in greenhouse gas reporting and the future of the Kyoto Protocol have become public sticking points, but these are accessories to the key issues of carbon emissions cuts and adaptation funding. The U.S. and China are going head-to-head on many issues; neither side has blinked yet. On a positive note, there has been progress on finalizing an agreement to protect forests in developing countries.
Secretary Clinton Promotes U.S. Position, Most Americans Support a Treaty: Secretary of State Clinton published an op-ed, "The U.S. Is on Board" in The New York Times today, highlighting the importance of an agreement and outlining the U.S. position at the talks. USA Today reports that Americans support a treaty to reduce global warming emissions by a 17-point margin, according to a poll conducted over the weekend. President Obama will be in Copenhagen on Friday, the last day of the negotiations.
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