Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Even though it is a little early to begin making generalizations, I feel that there is this common desire among developing countries to have a legally binding agreement for ALL countries, not just developed countries and a few developing countries which are growing at rapid rate, such as China and India. Many of the delegates my group has interviewed many of who are from developing countries feel that it is imperative that all countries sign onto a legally binding agreement at the end of this conference. Even though there is a lot of talk that an agreement will not be met until next years COP16 meeting in Mexico, many remain optimistic. According to a news press, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon believes that we will reach an agreement at the end of the Copenhagen conference. He stated that “ [in order] for the Copenhagen conference to be a success, the agreement must include ambitious reductions in carbon emissions by developed countries as well as ambitious actions by poorer developing countries to curb emissions. Rich nations must also provide financial support and technological assistance to help developing countries limit their emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change, including floods and drought,” implying that there will be a legally binding agreement for ALL countries, beginning to break down this idea that developing countries do not have to take action. Even though I do not believe that this agreement will cause an “immediate operational effect as soon as it is agreed,” as Ban stated yesterday, I do believe that we can and should focus on coming to a consensus and sign an legally binding agreement, using next years COP16 meeting to figure out the logistics of implementation. To read more about this press release, click here.
Tags: climate change, COP15 Resources, Dickinson College, Kyoto to Copenhagen, student-citizens
