Michael de Laine

By Michael de Laine, The Copenhagen Voice, 26 November 2009

President Barack Obama will participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next month, the White House said yesterday. The US President will table a US emissions reduction target in the range of 17% below 2005 levels in 2020 as part of his goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 83% by 2050.

US President Barack Obama will travel to Copenhagen on 9 December 2009 to participate in COP15, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC), where he is eager to work with the international community to drive progress toward a comprehensive and operational Copenhagen accord.

According to a White House announcement, the President has worked steadily on behalf of a positive outcome in Copenhagen throughout the year.

“Based on the President’s work on climate change over the past 10 months – in the Major Economies Forum, the G20, bilateral discussions and multilateral consultations – and based on progress made in recent, constructive discussions with China and India’s Leaders, the President believes it is possible to reach a meaningful agreement in Copenhagen,” the White House said.

The President’s decision to go is a sign of his continuing commitment and leadership to find a global solution to the global threat of climate change, and to lay the foundation for a new, sustainable and prosperous clean energy future.

The White House also said that, in the context of an overall deal in Copenhagen that includes robust mitigation contributions from China and the other emerging economies, the President is prepared to put on the table a US emissions reduction target in the range of 17% below 2005 levels in 2020 and ultimately in line with final US energy and climate legislation.

“In light of the President’s goal to reduce emissions 83% by 2050, the expected pathway set forth in this pending legislation would entail a 30% reduction below 2005 levels in 2025 and a 42% reduction below 2005 in 2030,” the statement said.

“This provisional target is in line with current legislation in both chambers of Congress and demonstrates a significant contribution to a problem that the US has neglected for too long,” the White House said. “With less than two weeks to go until the beginning of the Copenhagen conference, it is essential that the countries of the world, led by the major economies, do what it takes to produce a strong, operational agreement that will both launch us on a concerted effort to combat climate change and serve as a stepping stone to a legally binding treaty. The President is working closely with Congress to pass energy and climate legislation as soon as possible.”

Obama’s proposals are not ambitious enough, according to John Nordbo, Head of the Climate Change Programme at WWF Verdensnaturfonden, the Danish division of World Wide Fund for Nature. The proposals equate to a cut in greenhouse gas emissions of 4% by 2020 compared with 1990 - the base year used both the UN and the EU.

However, Nordbo told the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende that it is more difficult for the US to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 4% compared with 1990 than for Europe to meet its emission reduction targets.

Obama will be stopping over in Copenhagen en route to Oslo, where he will be formally awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the following day.

The US President will attend COP15 at a time when ‘only’ ministers and civil servants will be present, thrashing out the deal that many heads of state and government are expected to sign the following week.

The US Congress is working on climate legislation, but reports indicate that it is unlikely to be adopted before the spring. Clear promises about emissions cut targets from China and India - expected at COP15 - will strengthen the position of the climate-friendly politicians in Congress in their negotiations for a climate law.