UN Development Chief: Copenhagen Might Not Be Final Step

UN Development Chief: Copenhagen Might Not Be Final Step

~ It is not a failure if the UN climate conference in December does not sign a final deal, says UN Development Chief Helen Clark.

UN Development Chief Helen Clark is toning down expectations for the UN climate conference in Copenhagen.

"Copenhagen has to be viewed as a very important step. Would it be overoptimistic to say that it would be the final one? Of course," she says to the Financial Times. "If there's no deal as such, it won't be a failure. I think the conference will be positive but it won't dot every 'i' and cross every 't'."

According to the newspaper, her warning is a clear example of the fine line UN officials are treading as they try to press for greater urgency in the talks while tempering hopes for the outcome.

Helen Clark, a former New Zealand Prime Minister, plays a key role in preparing the few chances of speeding up negotiations before the conference in Copenhagen in December. Among these opportunities there will be a meeting of heads of state and government at the UN in New York on September 22, and the industrialized countries in the Group of 20 will meet a few days later in Pittsburgh.

"When you gather a significant body of heads of government, there's an opportunity to lift ambition and aspiration," Helen Clark says, noting that progress could be made. "The key thing is that it [the climate process] must continue to have momentum because there is a way to run before Kyoto expires."

The binding goals for greenhouse gas reductions settled in the Kyoto Protocol expire in 2012.


for complete article:
2009-09-02
http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=2009