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Journalism of Courage
Delegates geared up for a tough round of negotiation on climate change as a crucial summit opens on Monday with top UN officials saying that emission reductions announced by key countries,including India,had put the world within reach of a global warming control pact.
Yvo de Boer,top UN climate official said there was unprecedented political momentum to clinch an ambitious deal but countries needed to negotiate harder.
“Time is up,” de Boer said. “Over the next two weeks nations have to deliver”.
“Never in 17 years of climate negotiations have so many different nations made so many firm pledges together,” he said referring to the emission target cuts announced by the US,China and India in the run up to the Copenhagen summit.
De Boer said Copenhagen was “already a turning point in the international response to climate change”.
Along with 15,000 delegates,more than 100 world leaders including US President Barack Obama,Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao will attend the 12-day summit for which security has been beefed up.
For the summit,the conference venue at the Danish capital has been declared a UN territory.
Though China,India,Brazil and other major nations of the G-77 group of developing nations have announced concessions,the group has hardened its stand on number of unattached proposals being floated around.
