December 19, 2009

NEW YORK – As the Copenhagen climate change conference ended Saturday morning without official adoption of a non-binding accord brokered by President Barack Obama and emerging countries, humanitarian agency Church World Service called on individual nations to "act ‘as if,' starting now."

Delegates from 193 nations at the close of the summit agreed to "take note" of the document, tooled by President Barack Obama, China, India, South Africa and Brazil and key European countries on Friday and established no legally binding for reducing greenhouse gas emissions or for monitoring countries' emission levels.

Just returning from the United Nations climate summit, Church World Service Executive Director and CEO the Rev. John L. McCullough said, "Regardless of the agreements, signed or not signed at Copenhagen, binding or not binding, this does not leave developed and emerging nations off the hook in terms of lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Nor is it a license for emerging nations to proceed with development without self-regulated, intentional measures toward greener development."

McCullough cited the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ruling finding CO2 emissions harmful to one's health as "just one example of how nations can move ahead on their own until a legally binding international accord is reached, pending of course that the U.S. EPA ruling is applied."

CWS acknowledged all parties in Copenhagen for making strides by agreeing to a $100 billion fund intended to assist developing countries in mitigating and adapting to climate change between now and 2020. Said McCullough, "Secretary of State Clinton's address in Copenhagen Thursday turned a corner."

"Over the two decades of discussions about adaptation funding, COP15 marks the first time world leaders have agreed to an actual amount to help the world's poorest nations who are also the most affected by climate change," he added.

The resulting Copenhagen declaration also includes a commitment to attempt to hold global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, but even the accord's crafters have also admitted that this cap is still not sufficient to curb global warming.

On the issue of transparency concerning use of adaptation funding and meeting proposed greenhouse cuts, CWS's McCullough noted that, "There has been significant progress at COP15 in regards to furthering governance and transparency needs."

While endorsing the need overall for international transparency and good governance on climate change mitigation, McCullough warns however that, "Any future agreement on an international monitoring mechanism does not delete or replace the need for a binding agreement to meet specified emissions targets."

Church World Service