Michael de Laine

By Michael de Laine, the Copenhagen voice, 8 November 2009

The climate meeting in Barcelona made progress but did not remove all the stones on the road to COP15 in Copenhagen next month. The time for treading water will soon be over and the world’s leaders must then act.

“It would be wrong to say that Barcelona removed all the stones on the road to Copenhagen,” Danish Climate and Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard said in a comment at the close on Friday of the Barcelona UN Climate Change Talks.

“There is still a long way to go, but the negotiators outlined the possibilities that a climate deal in Copenhagen can build on in important areas such as technology transfer, climate adaptation and the question of forests in developing countries,” Hedegaard said. “This was fully in line with my opening address. The negotiation text must list some real choices, so the politicians must show that they dare back them with action.”

The Danish minister said
Barcelona showed that the countries are very much aware that the crunch comes the next time they meet.

“The African countries’ stance at the start of the negotiations underlined that they are very concerned about the consequences of global warming and that they expect the industrialised countries to deliver at Copenhagen,” Connie Hedegaard said. The African countries’ unanimity “sends a clear signal to the industrialised countries that they must come with concrete figures in Copenhagen – for both reduction targets and finance.

“The next stop is Copenhagen,” Hedegaard said. “This is where the last round of negotiations takes place. There will be no more time for treading water. In a month, the world’s leaders must show that they dare deliver a binding, ambitious and global agreement.”