Crossed Swords Over Palm Tree

"Yes we can" - but we do it?

Climate Conference is coming to an end. The stress takes anywhere too much time. It is well met even further on Saturday. German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel noted in his press conference on the negotiations that Poznan has produced the results that were expected. It had been clear negotiating mandates adopted for a draft treaty by June 2009 should be to him in December 2009 to implement international law. These mandates are, however, the Have been introduced, although many developed countries still did not want to commit to the achievement of potential CO2 reduction targets. Reason for Gabriel's positive attitude and the adoption of the EU climate and energy pact. Most NGO activists at the climate conference, however, see it differently. In the past few days so the wires were hot to prevent public protest worse.

positive from the perspective of the minister is also the progress of the Adaptation Fund, in which the developing countries will now probably finally have direct access if they take sufficient account of the use of funds. However, the financial volume of the Funds is not yet sufficient in any way and necessary rules for allocation of the same be adopted also the first in Copenhagen in 2009.

From the perspective of the international NGO community, the EU adopted the package now has a much braking effect on the negotiations. General comment is that the era of European leadership on climate change is over. Since the beginning of a given automatic commitment of the EU to 30% reduction by 2020, when the world in Copenhagen to a reduction target under the IPCC recommendations (25-40%) agrees, has now fallen out.

So it is an ambiguous result, which emerged in the last hours of the conference: on the one hand, the industrial countries with a positive Balance sheet and the ever repeated assertion of necessary action in all areas in the South and the North. Developing countries and NGOs on the other hand speak of deep disappointment, because many decisions are not on track and 2008 is a wasted year with no real progress on substantive issues. (To reach the limit global warming to 2 ° C) just in setting ambitious reduction targets for a post-2012 period and in the new financial architecture, it would have to be decisions for 2009 in Copenhagen to sign a fair and ambitious agreement to .

In the end, is this two-week marathon negotiations the certainty that, while all would somehow come to a new contract (and this can and must, like Al Gore in an emotional speech on Friday afternoon calls out to the conference participants). But it is not certain how much the individual states do, and how ready the north and the south for a departure from the confrontational respective positions.