United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday defended the results of the Copenhagen climate change talks as a significant step toward a binding agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
He made the comments to reporters on Monday in response to criticism from world leaders that the process was flawed.
Coming up with an accord member states could agree on was “quite difficult,” Ban said, but he said he was encouraged by the results.
“It is not perfect at this time, but it was a very important and very significant step forward,” he said.
The three-page Copenhagen accord, put forward by a U.S.-led group of five nations — including China, India, Brazil and South Africa — recognizes that an increase in global temperature should be kept to two degrees Celsius — the threshold that UN scientists say is needed to avert serious climate change.
But the accord is not legally binding and has no long-term global targets for emissions cuts.
It also promises to deliver $30 billion US in aid over the next three years to help developing nations reduce emissions.
Although the agreement was not formally approved, the conference president said that delegates at a late-night plenary session agreed to “take note” of the document, or recognize that it exists.
Ban urged all countries to sign on to the accord and work toward making it a binding agreement next year.
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Notes:
It has long been propounded by lefties that the only hope for the world is one world government which overrules all countries. Here comes the latest offering who is trying to put a positive spin on “Copenhopen”.
It won’t happen.
The UN is a disgrace and should be disbanded. Beyond all that Canada was built by our forefathers who worked very hard and fought and died for an idea which is anathema to the UN. I’m not going there.
The UN should be expelled from North America. That’s my view.
Time to call it a day.
…”the process was flawed”? You mean it wasn’t one-sided enough? I guess next time only the Climate Syndicates will get accreditation.
I want Canada out of this mess. They make fools of us.
Ki-moon, Obama, and “me to, me to, Canada was there to, don’t forget about us!!” Harper are all trying to put a positive spin on COP15 rather than admit that the international community was utterly unable to bridge their assorted divides – they’re all one and the same in that respect aren’t they?
PM Harper is just taking care of Canada.Why can people not realize or see that if we get rid of our measly 2 % GHG and china or India raises its greenhouse gas 2% or 4% we are further behind no matter what we do in Canada.And Ontario emits more GHG than Alberta,but MCsquinty was at the conference bitching about Alberta.What a sad bunch of Liberal,lets call them politely BASTARDS instead of leaders.They are doing everything in their power to destroy Canada.Thank goodness we have a PM who is honest and looks after the average Canadian and isn,t in politics for the power and money.
Totally agree bert!
I think a lot of people in the mushy middle got a wake up call on the proceedings in Copenhagen seeing the big shakedown racket that has been going on for more than a decade. Pictures of “Me (Chavez) and Bobby Mugabe” say it all.
Canada won because we got rid of any penalties that might have been tied into the Liberal’s Kyoto Agreement that is now thankfully buried. PMSH also won because he had been saying for years now that any agreement must include the big emitters, the US and China and Copenhagen proved to Canadians that observation was true.
Now we can get on with the real problems in the world, economics. Greece will default and maybe Ireland too, that will cause considerable loss of confidence in the great United States of Europe experiment because the bailouts of those countries cannot progress unless the EU also wants to do it for all the teetering former Eastern Block countries too. Even Austria is in a mess (because it has created even more unsustainable CUPE type employees than Dalton did on the back of the real economy). Certain UK banks have way too much exposure to Austria so their banking system may blow up yet again.
All that would explain why in less than a month the Euro has fallen to 1.42 from 1.51 US even with all the insane spending going on in Washington.
Thank God we live in Canada and looking at housing prices, a lot of people recognize our relatively good fortune.
Ban makes idiot of himself or simply provides more proof that he is an idiot?
The ’Peter Principle’………”In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence.” Mr. Secretary-General….stand up and take a bow.
If Ki-moon is an idiot for defending the results of the Copenhagen climate change talks as a significant step toward a binding agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, what is Canada’s Environment Minister (and the federal Cabinet he is a part of and the PM that leads that Cabinet) for defending the Copenhagen Accord as an historic accomplishment for bringing the world’s largest polluters – including China, India and the United States – into the global-warming battle?
And while we’re asking questions, how can either idiot Ki-Moon or idiot Prentice call what happened an “accord” when the draft resolution a few countries cobbled together in a back room somewhere was never put to a conference vote?
Re 2 & 7:
I agree! Prentice is an idiot and I want Canada out of the UN now!
PMSH is playing with fire trying to sit on the fence on this one. He needs to take stock over the holidays, realize that Obama is going to be a lame duck in November and not worry so much about the US lead and start crafting a right leaning agenda he is prepared to take to the voters.