The climate change talks at Copenhagen, despite last-ditch efforts by President Obama and many others, went on through the night, into the morning and then into the early afternoon. In the end, no legal agreement, though they do have a “Copenhagen Accord” with a maximum temperature agreement, financial support, deforestation agreements, and lots more that will be analyzed for months. If you have heard that Obama accomplished a lot in Copenhagen, that depends on what you mean by “a lot”. You can download the accord and read it: 
Copenhagen Accord (182 kB)
Here is the final statement from Yvo de Boer. You can read all the documents and see archived video on the UNFCCC site.
“Briefing the press at the end of the two-week conference, Yvo de Boer said an accord has been reached that has significant elements, but that is not legally binding.
He described the accord as “politically important,” demonstrating a willingness to move forward. It brings together a diversity of countries that have put in place a letter of intent with the ingredients of an architecture for a response to climate change.
The key points of the accord include the objective to keep the maximum temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius; the commitment to list developed country emission reduction targets and mitigation action by developing countries for 2020; USD 30 billion short-term funding for immediate action till 2012 and USD 100 billion annually by 2020 in long-term financing, as well as mechanisms to support technology transfer and forestry.
The challenge now is to turn what is agreed into something that is legally binding in Mexico one year from now.”
The accord is a political agreement only, not binding, and it’s primarily to reduce emissions on a voluntary basis without legal oversight. The accord is called operational. That means the money pledged by countries to help poorer countries adapt and develop will be available to them. Yvo de Boer calls it “politically significant” but without legally binding requirements I don’t see how the U.S. and China and India will do what needs to be done in reducing emissions. I do believe that most people in the U.S. government want to do what is necessary but there is strong political opposition from some anti-science right-wing Congressmen who are most concerned with protecting their own state interests.
What would have helped get a legally binding document? For one, stronger reliance on the science, and a strong climate change bill (as opposed to a cap and trade, or a jobs and energy bil) passing through the U.S. congress before this conference. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has made a big deal recently of focusing on climate change from the perspective that it’s all about “jobs, jobs and jobs”. No it’s not, it’s about science, the climate, the forces of nature that we will soon be unable to turn around, and the future of humanity on the planet. But such is the intelligence level of our politicians. It’s also insulting that they feel the people of this country are not able to handle being told the truth about climate change and the huge risk it represents. Doubters and skeptics will remain as long as the political focus in the U.S. is on jobs and the economy. There are even doubters and skeptics in our Congress, who are pushing for the eternal use of coal and oil.
Politics and economics played a huge part in causing tensions at the talks, as they play here in our own Congress. These tensions seemed to escalate in the final week. Delegate after delegate mentioned that they had been asked to wait for the U.S. over and over again in the last year . . . waiting for a law to pass, something that never happened. President Obama should have and could have gotten involved much sooner and stronger than late last week.
Don’t count on the United States to get its act together by then. Our political system seems to be collapsing into ridiculousness, to the detriment of the entire planet.
Never at any time, not once, did I see any proposal being considered in either the House or the Senate that came even close to what the science says is needed. Don’t look for it now.
As I have said several times on my own blog, the world must get out of the habit of waiting around for the U.S. to lead the way. That ain’t gonna happen. China had a chance to step up and they chose instead to stick with their old closed society vision.
Will India and Europe finally be the little brothers who step out from the shadow of their older and more powerful siblings to show that meaningful action is possible? I hope so. Certainly Europe is doing its best.
As for jobs, jobs, jobs, I think the better focus is on health and clean air and clean water. That approach deals with the forces driving global warming and resonates I think with a larger segment of the political community. Just a thought.
I’ve said the same, the world has to stop waiting for the U.S. We just don’t have it together enough anymore to be a leader in anything. China is also disappointing. I hope the rest of the world does the leading and shames us into doing what is right and gets rid of this cap and trade idea as being effective. It’s slowly becoming less popular and if we could get a few people out of the Congress next year we might pass something better. Meanwhile, all the states need to start making carbon targets and stop waiting for the federal government to do the right thing.
I would not advocate focusing on jobs as a way to get public pressure to increase either — like Nancy Pelosi and some other members of congress do — I completely disagree with their approach at this point. They need to be honest with people as to what is happening, but they won’t do that because they are perpetually worried about their political careers and the denier movement is well funded and well connected.
Health is something better to focus on at this time and it appeals to everyone. I have discussed this in my podcast — which is now at http://www.climatefilesradio.com — and said we should emphasize that this is a way to appeal to people to stop climate change and dangerously polluting emissions. Everyone, whether they need a job or not, wants to be healthier.