Limited Agreement is Reached as Copenhagen Summit Comes to an End

e360 Digest
Yale Environment 360

In a last-minute flurry of diplomatic activity, U.S. President Obama managed to piece together a limited agreement on climate change that falls short of even the modest expectations for the 12-day summit meeting in the Danish capital. Rather than emerging with a legally binding treaty to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions — the original goal of the conference — the deal brokered by Obama stipulates that countries should list their greenhouse gas reduction targets, that negotiators establish a fund to help poor nations deal with global warming, and that the world community aim to limit global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) above pre-industrial levels...read full story.