The Straits Times : COPENHAGEN - THE community of nations was mustering in Copenhagen on Monday for a 12-day climate conference framed as a fightback against a peril menacing generations to come.After opening ceremonies and statements, due to start at 9am, negotiators from 192 countries set out on a marathon of unprecedented scale and importance. With the whip of time cracking at their heels, delegates have to craft a blueprint for tackling 'greenhouse' gases blamed for trapping solar heat and disrupting Earth's climate system.
They must also put together a funding mechanism for helping poor nations most exposed to the ravages of climate change, from drought to floods, vicious storms to rising seas. By late next week, their bosses will be arriving.
More than 100 heads of state or government - including US President Barack Obama, Premier Wen Jiabao of China, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the heads of the European Union (EU) - are set to attend a climax summit on Dec 18.
Their goal is to seal an ambitious political agreement in outline form. Further negotiations would take place in 2010 to fill in the details and - if all goes well - from the end of 2012, the new pact would take effect.
Analysts, though, say the outcome is hard to predict, given the deep gap between the demands of developing countries and the willingness of rich countries to dig both into their pockets and carbon emissions. -- AFP
Source: Copenhagen Climate Summit, Global Warming Conference, Climate Change Meeting at The Straits Times
0 comments:
แสดงความคิดเห็น