China Hails Climate Change Agreement

VOA News Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi says the accord was a positive step forward in recognizing different responsibilities between emerging and rich nations.

The Copenhagen accord was approved Saturday after marathon negotiations by the United States, China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

The accord says greenhouse gases and other emissions by all nations must be reduced enough to prevent average global temperatures - the key index of global warming - from rising more than two degrees Celsius. However, it does not set specific emissions guidelines for achieving that goal.

China and the United States are the world's biggest contributors to global warming. U.S. President Barack Obama called the accord a "breakthrough" in attempts to control global warming, but he said it still "not enough."

Obama Urges World to Unite Behind Climate Pact as Talks Falter

VOA News: 18/12/2009

U.S. President Barack Obama joined world leaders from over 100 countries for the final sessions of the U.N. Climate Change conference in Copenhagen. As negotiations drew to a close, no new compromise proposals were evident and talk turned to forging a political commitment with details of measures to be taken left for future negotiations.

"We can embrace this accord, take a substantial step forward, continue to refine it and build upon its foundation," said U.S. President Barack Obama

Photo: AP

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the morning plenary session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, 18 Dec 2009

"We can embrace this accord, take a substantial step forward, continue to refine it and build upon its foundation," said U.S. President Barack Obama.

Addressing the gathering of world leaders President Obama urged them to put aside differences and agree on a plan of action.

US Pledges to Work Toward $100 Billion Global Climate Fund for Poor

VOA News

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States will work with other nations to establish a $100 billion a year fund for climate financing for poor countries. She made the announcement at the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen.

"The United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries," Hillary Clinton

Secretary of State Clinton says the United States wants a comprehensive and operational new agreement to come out of the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives for a press briefing at the climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, 17 Dec 2009

She said an agreement must include commitments from all major economies to take decisive action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and strong standards for full transparency over those efforts.

If that can be accomplished, Clinton said the United States will make significant contributions.

"The United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries," Clinton said.

Oxfarm: $200 billion is needed every year to succeed in reducing green house gases in developing world

Negotiators from 192 nations are in Copenhagen trying to hammer out a global warming treaty that balances the economic concerns of rich nations with the demands of developing countries, who say they would suffer most from a warmer planet.

$200 billion is needed every year, said Oxfam to succeed in reducing green house gases in developing world

One NGO says putting more money on the table could mean the difference between success and failure at the climate change conference in Copenhagen.

Hugh Cole, a climate change advisor for Oxfam International, says there are three key components for a strong and fair climate change deal in Copenhagen.

“First, it has to be fair. That means it has to acknowledge historical responsibility. The second is it must be ambitious. It has to be ambitious enough to limit global warming. The third key element—whatever is agreed upon here in Copenhagen must be binding,” he says.

On Thursday, American billionaire financier George Soros proposed an alternative scheme for helping poor countries pay for the changes needed to adapt to climate change.

Cole says finance indeed is the key that could unlock the whole deal.

EU Earmarks $3.6 Billion in Aid for Developing Countries

VOA News European Union is earmarking nearly $3.6 billion yearly in short-term aid for developing countries to adapt to climate change. At a summit in Brussels, EU leaders also agreed to cut their carbon emissions by 30 percent - if other developed countries followed suit.

The agreement on short-term climate funding was reached after a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels. EU aid for developing countries will total about $7.2 billion between 2010-2012, with Britain, Germany and France contributing the lion's share. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency until January, announced the sum at a press conference.

"We of course are very pleased and satisfied that we [had] contributions from all member countries and that we also now show leadership in taking our fair share of the fast-start money that we know is important to get the global agreement in place and we of course now urge other developed parts of the world to make that same contribution so this will add up," said Mr. Reinfeld.

The EU aid may help boost negotiations at the climate change summit in Copenhagen. The United Nations is urging industrialized nations to contribute about $30 billion in short-term climate aid to poor nations. Overall, the EU estimates about $150 billion in assistance will be needed by 2020. The money would help developing nations invest in things like coastal protection and renewable energy to help deal with climate change. Reinfeldt said Europe would contribute what he described as its "fair share."

Australia tells Copenhagen Summit what it wants

News Com Au AUSTRALIA has told the Copenhagen summit it's time for "bold action'' on climate change.

"We want a success at Copenhagen, in fact we want a resounding success," Ms Hand said last night, to applause from the floor.

"We're committed to bold action, we're committed to a strong outcome."

"All governments have a responsibility to combat the threat of climate change."

The call to arms comes despite uncertainty about action at home, after the Liberal Opposition killed off the emissions trading scheme and elected Tony Abbott who's expressed doubts about climate science.

And the Copenhagen speech was made on behalf of some of the world's biggest economies.

Australia was speaking to the conference for the Umbrella Group, an informal arrangement of developed countries who are not from the European Union. The group includes the US, Japan and the Russian Federation.

Ms Hand, a senior Federal Government bureaucrat, said the Umbrella Group recognised the science that greenhouse gas emissions should halve by 2050 to limit global warming to two degrees.

The group's countries were ready to make that vision a reality by playing their full, fair part in a deal, she said.

"Copenhagen cannot be a business as usual outcome," Ms Hand said.

"All governments have a responsibility to combat the threat of climate change."