Obama, in Copenhagen, Urges World to Act on Climate Change

President Obama addresses the UN Climate Change Conference (Reuters/Bob Strong), at right a journalist reads the latest scribbled revisions to a draft of the Copenhagen Accord (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus).

President Obama arrived in Copenhagen this morning to address the UN conference on climate change. In a stern speech delivered hours after his arrival, Obama told world leaders and their delegates that "the time for talk is over... All of you would not be here unless you — like me — were convinced that this danger is real. This is not fiction, it is science." The President's arrival came as any agreement on climate change remained out of reach, and China, the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gas pollutants, was accused of holding back progress in the climate talks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. During his address (text here, video below), Obama expressed frustration and urgency:

We are running short on time. And at this point, the question is whether we will move forward together or split apart, whether we prefer posturing to action. I’m sure that many consider this an imperfect framework that I just described. No country will get everything that it wants...
Or we can choose delay, falling back into the same divisions that have stood in the way of action for years. And we will be back having the same stale arguments month after month, year after year, perhaps decade after decade, all while the danger of climate change grows until it is irreversible.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is no time to waste. America has made our choice. We have charted our course. We have made our commitments. We will do what we say. Now I believe it’s the time for the nations and the people of the world to come together behind a common purpose.

"President Obama’s rhetoric is empty," said Friends of the Earth U.S. President Erich Pica. "The U.S. has failed to significantly improve upon the weak position it brought to these talks.This speech appears to be more of a face-saving exercise for President Obama than an attempt to unite countries around a truly planet-saving agreement."

The conference, which was scheduled to end today, has been "plagued by distrust over how nations would hold each other accountable," the Times reports. (The AP says the talks are in "serious disarray.") Upon arrival, Obama immediately went into an unscheduled meeting with a high-level group of leaders from 20 countries and organizations. Wen Jiabao, the prime minister of China, blew off that meeting and sent the vice foreign minister, "a snub that left both American and European officials seething," according to the Times.

But Wen did find time for Obama after his speech, and the two met privately for 55 minutes. They reportedly discussed emissions goals, verification mechanisms and climate financing during a meeting that one White House official described as "constructive. They took a step forward and made progress." Politico also reports that "none of the several drafts circulating in Copenhagen represented even the bones of a final deal, with many key issues still in flux and time running out. Moreover, U.S. predictions that roadblocks could be thrown up by smaller countries seemed to be coming true, with last-minute objections voiced by Venezuela, Bolivia, Sudan and Saudi Arabia."

"The situation is desperate," a top Indian negotiator told Reuters. "There is no agreement on even what to call the text — a declaration, a statement or whatever. They (rich nations) want to make it a politically binding document, which we oppose." A legally binding treaty mandating deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by developed nations is believed to be out of reach. (Reuters has a good overview of what's being considered.) The United Nations secretariat overseeing the summit meeting has advised negotiators to extend their stays through Sunday night, and it's unclear how long Obama plans to stay.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on December 18, 2009 12:20 PM

Comments [rss]

NannyState

Obama's putting wind in all your stockings this year.

BotanistPrime

Even if climate change IS a hoax (which I don't believe it is). Shouldn't we be trying to cut back on our oil and coal burning other reasons? Air Quality? Foreign wars over oil? Our nation's stupid dependence on cars? Ecological effects of mining and drilling?

jpeditor

"Shouldn't we be trying to cut back on our oil and coal burning other reasons? Air Quality? "

IMPROVED ALREADY.

"Foreign wars over oil?"

Really? WHOSE OIL ARE WE STEALING? And would you PREFER that Iran and the Saudis and the Russians control the oil market? WHERE DO YOU THINK THE PLASTIC FOR YOUR COMPUTER COMES FROM? PETROLEUM....!

" Our nation's stupid dependence on cars?"

yes, lets all go back to horses and have GAZILLION TONS OF HORSE MANURE IN THE STREETS.

" Ecological effects of mining and drilling?"

Oh my - lets blot out the deserts with SOLAR ARRAYS AND WIND FARMS. No wait, that will hurt the lizards and the birds....

I GOT IT, LETS BUILD MORE NUKE PLANTS LIKE FRANCE!

WAKE UP, WATERMELON:

Your GREEN agenda is nothing but RED INSIDE, designed to destroy the West. Why do you think CHAVEZ wants DOPENHAGEN to succeed, along with the thousands of COMMUNISTS marching outside the hall yesterday!.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMz4QDYy1fo&feature=PlayList&p=BDBB1CD362534442&index=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNQqUACJ_Kw&feature=PlayList&p=BDBB1CD362534442&index=0

Shinobi Shaw

I agree with you, BUT I think that what he meant by less dependence on cars was to have an excellent infrastructure similar to Japan. They are far from Socialist and have been in a recession since 1990 and yet they have an amazing Train system.

jpeditor

a/ He's a greenie / wannabe communist.

b/ Japan is not in a recession, and their trains are overcrowded and women get groped daily.

The plus side is we should consider looking at Japan's immigration laws. VERY STRICT.

Shinobi Shaw

I agree but that does not correlate with the fact that Climate change is caused by THE SUN.

whitecastlerock

I urge the President to come back to America and actually do something for a "change."

etypical

like go on "Ugly Betty" to boost ratings.

ides_of_march

It's a hoax boys and girls. The scientists admitted manipulating the data to get the results they wanted. You've been had. Get over it.

zpk

Just don't tell the Associated Press:

http://tinyurl.com/yav8ujv

"E-mails stolen from climate scientists show they stonewalled skeptics and discussed hiding data — but the messages don't support claims that the science of global warming was faked, according to an exhaustive review by The Associated Press."

felixthecat2

Poor deniers! They can not point to the research to deny climate change or any of the climate variables around the Globe such as mountaintop glaciers melting, the ocean warming, oceans acidifying and rising, or polar bears drowning as the Arctic ice melts. All they have left with is to look at decade old emails and ciaim fraud.

Dead Himmler

I actually ate polar bear about 7 years ago in Norway. It was illegal but I'm good friends with the restaurant owner and he had some. I thought it would be tough but it was tender and delicious!!

felixthecat2

You seem to be proud of your own ignorance. Typical Fox Viewer.

Shinobi Shaw

Who said you had to be a fox viewer or even anti-Obama to see that Man Made Climate Change is a fraud?

felixthecat2

It's not a fraud and I was referring to Dead Himmler.

Darrell

Copenhagen is useless. Do you know why we all use high polluting sources of energy like coal? Because they are remarkably cheap. America and Europe can pretend to be advanced and progressive, but the reality is we rely on these dirty sources of energy, regardless of how many solar panels we put up or how many nuclear power plants we build, both of which are remarkably expensive (especially nuclear).

Yet these countries have the nerve to tell the developing, and thus majority of the world, that they aren't allowed to use coal or oil to improve their lives because of the green house gasses. Plus when dealing about China, they use an equivalent of 1,433kg of oil per year per person. America uses 7,778kg, and Canada uses 8,262kg. To compare to a similar lifestyle, the UK uses 3,814kg per person and the rest of western europe ranges from 3-5kg, and the world average is 1,818kg, so if anything the chinese are using LESS energy per person than the world average, and the countries that need to cut their emissions are us, not the developing world, and not China.

This is empty rhetoric, and if Obama really wants to solve global warming, he has a lot more to do within his own country than with the world at large.

felixthecat2

He can start with vegan lunches in schools.

etypical

ever since Al Gore began his crusade the winters get colder and colder. Global warming just isn't the cause liberals want it to be. Not when there are so many other immediate issues.

But put me in a private jet and whisk me across the globe and I might feel differently too.

felixthecat2

Seriously, the winters are colder? Incorrect. The average annual temperature in the Northeast has risen 1.8° F over the last 100 years. Winter temperatures have risen even faster, as much as 4.4° in the last 30 years.

Shorter winters and longer growing seasons. Data from the last 30 years indicate that much of the Northeast has already seen a change in the winter snow season. In the Adirondacks, total annual snowfall has decreased by 40 to 60 inches (more winter precipitation now falls as rain). During the same time, the period with snow on the ground has decreased by as much as 20 days in some parts of the state. By the end of the century, parts of New York could see only 5 to 10 days of snow cover each winter month.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/39313.html