Madrid: The head of the UN panel of climate
experts said today he was "reasonably confident" that next
month's summit in Copenhagen to work on a new global
climate-change agreement would be a success.
"I'm reasonably confident that Copenhagen will be a
success. I expect a commitment to be reached in Copenhagen, as
a step for a strong agreement in Mexico," Rajendra Pachauri,
who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), told reporters in Madrid.
He was referring to a climate change summit proposed for
Mexico next year in case the December 6-18 talks in Denmark
fails to reach a final agreement.
Representatives from some 190 countries are set to take
part in the Copenhagen talks, which aim to replace the Kyoto
treaty that expires in 2012, and curb emissions of carbon
dioxide and other gases scientists say will warm the planet.
Pachauri praised the new carbon emissions targets
proposed by the United States and China, the world's two
biggest carbon emitters, earlier this week which have breathed
life into UN climate talks.
He said the US announcement "is certainly a very
encouraging step forward, even if the targets announced are
not as large as Europe and the world would like."
"During a long, long time they haven't done anything. But
we must also realise that what has been said has not been
ratified by the Congress."
US President Barack Obama set goals that would reduce US
carbon emissions by 17 per cent by 2020.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, November 28, 2009, 00:03