A LEAKED document from the UN climate secretariat suggests that the world is heading for a rise of three degrees in average global temperatures, based on the target cuts in greenhouse gas emissions tabled by countries represented here.
“This is the single most important piece of paper in the world today,” said Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International. “It shows in stark terms that the climate deal on the table in Copenhagen would put at risk the very viability of our civilisation on earth.”
With world leaders due to join environment ministers at the climate summit today, Bill McKibben of 350.org said the UN’s analysis “makes it clear that any claim that negotiators are aiming to hold temperature increases to 1.5 or two degrees are sham”.
Meanwhile, the most powerful leaders of the European Union joined together for an unscheduled meeting on the margins of the talks late last night, in an effort to bridge some of the outstanding issues.
The meeting was called for by Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, current president of the EU, and José Manuel Barroso, the head of the commission.
It involved the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Spain, and Poland.
It began immediately after a dinner attended by heads of government, including Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
The president of Ghana, John Atta Mills, said last night that the conference “will determine where [we] will be in 50 or 60 years, whether Planet Earth will survive or not. This is a very big political decision that we leaders have to take . . . to avert this looming catastrophe.”
The 115 heads of state or government are expected to arrive at a special VIP entrance to the Bella convention centre between 8.15 and 9am today, amid the tightest security ever seen in Denmark.
After relaxing in a lounge reserved for them, a limited number from all groups and regions will attend an “informal event” convened by Danish prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, who will “speak on global issues”.
All of them will then pose for a “family photo” before lunch at 1pm, where talks are likely to continue. Two hours later, they will attend an open-ended plenary session that will “adopt the outcome of the conference” in their presence.
Sorley McCaughey, of Christian Aid, said all of the leaders should stay until they managed to produce a “fair, ambitious and binding (FAB) deal on climate change.”
She said that “no amount of shiny green wrapping paper” would disguise their failure otherwise.
In a statement, numerous mayors from all over the world, who have been attending a parallel conference in Copenhagen, also expressed their dismay. “We find ourselves . . . on the brink of letting down people from every corner of the planet,” they said.