Copenhagen Accord

Introduction

The Copenhagen Accord is a non-binding agreement that emerged from the UN Copenhagen Climate Conference of December, 2009.   It was negotiated between the United States, China, Brazil, India, and South Africa.  The Accord states that deep international emissions cuts are needed to hold the increase in global temperature to under two degrees Celsius.  Under the Accord, developed countries (Annex I) agree to set targets for reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.  Developing countries agree to pursue nationally appropriate mitigation strategies to slow the growth of their emissions, but are not committed to reducing their carbon output.¹

Signatories of the Accord

To date, more than 120 countries, including the 27-member European Union, have agreed to the Copenhagen Accord. For a complete, up-to-date overview, visit Who's On Board With the Copenhagen Accord page on the US Climate Action Network's Web site.

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Criticisms

The Copenhagen Accord has been widely criticized as an inadequate and half-hearted measure to combat change. In an opinion article published in Nature on 22nd April, 2010 titled "Copenhagen Accord Pledges are Paltry," the authors argue that current pledges imply an above 50% chance that global temperature will rise by 3°C by the end of this century.⁴

Footnotes

1. "Copenhagen Accord" Conference of the Parties 15 Session. Copenhagen December 7-18, 2009.

2. "Appendix I of the Copenhagen Accord" United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Retrieved April 16, 2010.

3. "Appendix II of the Copenhagen Accord" United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Retrieved April 16, 2010

4.  Joeri Rogelj, Julia Nabel, Claudine Chen, William Hare, Kathleen Markmann, Malte Meinshausen et al, "Copenhagen Accord pledges are paltry," Nature 464, 1126-1128 (22 April 2010) | doi:10.1038/4641126a; Published online 21 April 2010http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v464/n7292/full/4641126a.html