The U.S. Chamber’s representative at Copenhagen, Steve Eule, has written a new analysis of what happened at the COP-15 Climate Conference—and where we go from here. The report is available at the Energy Institute’s International Climate webpage.
ChamberPost Blog: After Copenhagen
As we've blogged about, the Energy Institute's Steve Eule represented the US Chamber at the UN COP-15 Climate Conference in Copenhagen. Just a little over a month ago, the conference concluded with a "political agreement" brokered by President Obama. Steve blogged about the agreement and gave a quick wrap up of the conference a few weeks ago.
Now that the dust is settled, Steve is back with a more in-depth analysis of what happened in Copenhagen, as well as a look at the possible paths forward as preparations begin for the UNFCC meetings in Bonn and Mexico.
Titled "Copenhagen Accord and Discord: COP-15 and the Many Roads to Mexico," Steve's new analysis covers three aspects of the Copenhagen meeting—the Accord itself, the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA), and the Ad –Hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP).
While it sounds a bit confusing, the AWG-LCA and the AWG-KP are actually the two negotiating tracks to a new international treaty. Developed countries favor a single, comprehensive treaty that includes all nations (the AWG-LCA approach), rather than separate agreements under Kyoto (AWG-KP approach). It was the tension between the two negotiating tracks that led to inaction in Copenhagen, which prompted the Copenhagen Accord to be struck outside of either process.
Steve outlines six possible outcomes of the international negotiations now that Copenhagen is behind us. His analysis also includes a handy flow chart that demonstrates where we've been and where we might be heading. You can read the new analysis and stay up to date on the international negotiations at the Energy Institute's International Climate webpage.