Doha climate talks meet low expectations

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:04:00 +0000

The 18th U.N. climate change summit closes Friday after two weeks, having just about lived up to low expectations. Delegates from 194 nations met in Doha to sluggishly hammer out agreements intended to prepare the ground for more serious negotiations next year, when talks will begin on drafting a global agreement, binding developed and developing countries to cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2015.

As such, the COP 18 talks were never intended to achieve new commitments on cutting CO2 emissions, but rather clear up details and disagreements that currently exist between nations over climate issues, in order to clear the way for a 2015 agreement. But as the summit reaches its final day, many of these issues still remain unresolved.

"The Doha talks represent the hinge point between the existing UN system -- the 15-year-old Kyoto protocol -- and a future system to be settled by 2015," explained BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin, adding, "The transition has drawn all the world's nations into a negotiation of swirling diplomatic complexity."

Salon.com > COP 18

Doha climate talks meet low expectations