Copenhagen talks stagnate as protests turn violent

Updated December 14, 2009 10:11:00

Negotiations at the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen have reached an impasse, as almost 1,000 people were arrested during violent protests in the Danish capital.

Environment ministers have rejected a draft proposal circulated at the summit because it does not commit the developing world to cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

There are still three major issues unresolved; the level of emissions reduction targets, financing for the developing world, and compliance.

Australian Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says China, in particular, is resisting the measurement reporting and verification mechanism that gives the UN the right to monitor a country's mitigation efforts.

"The world to looks to China for leadership and for China to play a constructive and positive role at these negotiations," Senator Wong said.

With just a week of negotiations left, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rachendra Pachauri, has urged delegates to heed warnings that the planet is on a collision course with climate change.

The IPCC says emissions must peak by 2020 and the heads of state can deliver that target.

Draft text says the world should halve emissions by 2050, with rich nations making the largest portion of cuts.

"That text is a reflection of where negotiators have got to, but it's a long way from what we need and a long way from what we need to be working with," Senator Wong said.

"Fundamentally, what we need now is political ownership of these negotiations. This can no longer be about just one or two people putting a particular position that they've put for the past two years.

"This is one of those situations where we're all in it."

The world's environment ministers are now locked in informal discussions with their Danish government hosts in an attempt to thrash out an agreement the leaders can sign when they arrive later in the week.

Violent protests

As talks went on inside, riot police arrested 968 people at a rally near the conference venue.

It started as a peaceful demonstration calling for the 35,000 delegates at the conference to take action on global warming but ended with hundreds of masked youths throwing bricks and smashing windows.

Police say around 30,000 people marched through the city, with protest groups putting that number as high as 100,000.

Conference president Connie Hedegaard said she was disappointed riot police were forced to intervene.

"You don't have to exert that kind of violence to be heard, because this is a process where your views are very much included," she said.

Email controversy

Meanwhile, the IPCC says the recent controversy over the hacked emails from the University of East Anglia is being investigated but has not derailed negotiations at the talks.

Mr Pachauri says only a few countries have raised the matter in an effort to discredit climate change science.

"I don't think it's made any difference at all within the halls of this particular building.

"Maybe there are people far away but we haven't found that here."

The IPCC says its scientific research is peer reviewed by more than 2,000 scientists and the process is transparent.

Innovative design

Delegates will also discuss an energy-saving device designed by a 15-year-old British schoolboy.

Robert Appleton won a competition with his system, which powers street lights using energy generated when cars drive over speed bumps.

"Our system works. As the car comes over it'll push down the bump which will push down hydraulic pistons, which will turn a generator," he said.

"Then with this energy stored, it can be fed back into the grid to power streetlights and other amenities."

He believes that one car could produce enough energy to power a light for around nine hours.

Topics: un-climate-change-conference-copenhagen-2009, environment, climate-change, government-and-politics, world-politics, denmark, australia

First posted December 13, 2009 13:47:00