Posted on 18 December
2009 - Looking at the text that 25 countries
have agreed, Kim Carstensen, the leader
of WWF Global Climate Initiative said:
“They tell us it’s over
but it’s not. The latest Copenhagen Accord
draft mainly reproduced what leaders already
promised before they arrived here.”
“The biggest challenge,
turning the political will into a legally
binding agreement has moved to Mexico.”
“After years of negotiations
we now have a declaration of will which
does not bind anyone and therefore fails
to guarantee a safer future for next generations.”
“What was good about
Copenhagen was the level of national pledges
for climate action in most countries.”
“Politically, we live
in a world that agrees to stay below the
danger zone of two degrees but practically
what we have on the table adds up to 3 degrees
or more.”
“A gap between the rhetoric
and reality could cost millions of lives,
hundreds of billions of dollars and a wealth
of lost opportunities.”
“We are disappointed
but remain hopeful. The civil society will
continue watching every step of further
negotiations. The leaders have to get back
to work tomorrow.”
“Getting a strong outcome
of the follow-up process will take a lot
of bridge-building between the rich and
the poor countries. We expect that the Mexican
hosts will be ideally placed to play that
role.”
