Friday, December 18, 2009

Obama arrives at Bella Center.


Okay, so I admit, I didn't actually take this picture (I borrowed from the NY times - see post below), but Obama did make it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/science/earth/19climate.html?hp
Rather than making a public address upon arrival as planned he immediately entered closed door negotiations. Wen Jimbao, Prime Minister of China, has boycotted these talks signaling a continued divide between China and the U.S. despite shifts in China's position and Hillary Clinton's recent pledge of up to 100 billion a year to developing countries for adaptation to climate change. This pledge though is contingent on 1) that a comprehensive political agreement is reached in Copenhagen and 2) that all nation's must agree to some system of verification or transparency.
Besides China, it looks like Ecuador is also skeptical of the United States' position (see NY times article attached)

"Fander Falconí, Ecuador’s foreign minister, was skeptical of the American financial offer.

“What we really need are firm mechanisms to reduce emissions from industrialized countries,” he said. “Financial mechanisms are useful, but not central, not a solution.”"

Let's hope something comes out of this!

No comments:

Post a Comment