The day before the Climate Change Conference begins in Denmark, Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, gave a curtain-raising call to action to delegates from 192 nations before the opening ceremony, saying that, "negotiators now have the clearest signal ever from world leaders to draft a solid set of proposals to implement rapid action".
De Boer said time was up to agree on the framework of a tougher climate deal after troubled negotiations have deepened a rift between rich and poor nations, but was confident that the climate talks will be a success.
"Never in 17 years of climate negotiations have so many different nations made so many firm pledges together," he told reporters at the Bella Conference Centre, where the talks are being held, adding that, "whilst there will be more steps on the road to a safe climate future, Copenhagen is already a turning point in the international response to climate change."
In recent weeks, the US, China, India, Indonesia and other countries have announced commitments to reduce emissions, raising hopes of success in Copenhagen, while South Africa became the latest country to announce an emissions target just the day before the start of the climate talks. It said that over the next 10 years it would reduce emissions by 34% from "business as usual" levels.
Japan also stated on Sunday that it would remain committed to cutting emissions by 25% from 1990 levels by 2020, although it said that the pledge would depend on all major emitters being ambitious.
The UN conference will finally be attended by 105 world leaders, who will try to reach a much needed deal after years of drawn out debate over how to divide up the burden of emission cuts and the associated cost.
While the organisers of the climate talks have received around 34,000 applications to attend, numbers are limited to 15,000, which is the capacity of the Bella Conference Centre. Over the next 10 days, those selected to attend will join 3,000 members of the press in following the world leaders’ every move. The question now is: will a worthwhile agreement be reached?
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