Friday: Closure

Although COP15 hasn't officially ended, the press conference just held be President Obama signals the end of significant negotiations on the agreement to be adopted. The document hasn't yet been released, but the comments of the President indicate that little compromise was made at the negotiating table, leading to an agreement that will be neither legally binding nor sufficient to achieve the reductions in GHG emissions demanded by the science of climate change. Still, the president says, it's a good starting point. Never before have the major world economies reached an agreement on these issues, so despite the weakness, this could still be a real milestone in the history of climate change. Whether that milestone indicates the beginning of concerted action on climate change or the point at which the world doomed itself to an increasingly inhospitable climate remains to be seen.

The result is not unexpected. Obama's speech earlier in the day set low expectations for the final outcome. Brazil's President said then that only a miracle could save the negotiations. This evening, protesters in downtown Copenhagen chanted slogans denouncing the conference as unjust. And worst of all, the leaders of the small island nations began to leave the city well before the negotiations had finished. The feeling of disappointment is palpable not just among our group here but throughout the city.