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07 Dec 2009: Copenhagen Summit Opens
as U.S. Unveils Controls on Carbon Dioxide

The UN Climate Change Conference opened in Copenhagen this morning, with conference President Connie Hedegaard of Denmark telling delegates from 192 nations that they must take action now or risk putting off for years a crucial agreement to curb global greenhouse gas emissions.

“This is our chance,” said Hedegaard, Denmark’s former minister for climate end energy. “If we miss it, it could take years before we get a new and better one — if we ever do.”

As the first day of the conference drew to a close, the Obama administration made a dramatic announcement in Washington, with the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) saying that her agency planned to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions because they posed a threat to human health.

The announcement by EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson had been expected, but coming on the opening day of the Copenhagen conference it signaled to the world that the U.S. planned to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions even if Congress fails to pass climate legislation next year. Speaking to reporters, said that greenhouse gases were “disrupting the natural balance in our atmosphere and changing our climate,” adding, “There are no more excuses for delay. This administration will not ignore science and law any longer.”

Jackson was referring to a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a ruling that greenhouse gases endangered human health and therefore could be regulated by the EPA.

Jackson’s announcement was greeted enthusiastically by delegates and officials in Copenhagen. “This is very significant in the sense that... if the Senate fails to adopt legislation, then the administration will have the authority to regulate,” said Yvo de Boer, the head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat.

The mood at the opening session of the conference was generally upbeat, with Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen saying that a deal to set binding greenhouse gas reduction targets for various nations was “within our reach.”

The opening session featured video clips from children around the world urging delegates to act to stave off catastrophic global warming. A 24-year-old from Fiji wept as she presented a petition from 10 million people asking the conference to forge a deal to save low-lying islands like hers from rising sea levels.

This week, delegates are expected to work on a draft of the treaty, but any major decisions will be made next week when environment ministers, as well as heads of state from 110 nations, descend on Copenhagen. “The time for formal statements is over,” said de Boer. “The time for restating well-known positions is past. Copenhagen will only be a success if it delivers significant and immediate action.”

This week, delegates are expected to work on a draft of the treaty, but any major decisions will be made next week when environment ministers, as well as heads of state from 110 nations, descend on Copenhagen. “The time for formal statements is over,” said de Boer. “The time for restating well-known positions is past. Copenhagen will only be a success if it delivers significant and immediate action.”

The most important challenges at Copenhagen include coaxing countries to commit to firm emissions reductions targets and bridging the divide between industrialized nations and developing countries. One key issue, according to Hedegaard and de Boer, is the need for developed countries to immediately create a fund to help poorer nations adapt to global warming and adopt renewable energy technologies. The Web site, Politico, lays out what it calls “Five Keys to Copenhagen,” which also include persuading China to commit to more aggressive emissions cuts, securing a commitment from the Obama administration that Congress will pass climate legislation, and using Obama’s presence to catalyze an agreement.

Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that even without Congressional action, Obama could take administrative action to regulate and sharply reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Meanwhile, numerous officials led a counterattack against global warming skeptics, who have capitalized on a controversy over purloined e-mails from climate scientists to dismiss the risks of global warming. Ed Miliband, the UK climate change secretary, called global warming deniers “profoundly irresponsible,” while Pachauri said that the vast majority of the world’s climate scientists are in agreement that global warming is an urgent threat caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

Yale Environment 360 is
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Yale School of Forestry
& Environmental Studies.

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