Climate change conference deal fails to convince Swiss

Put in a nutshell, nations attending the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which ended on Saturday, eventually acknowledged global warming as one of the greatest challenges facing humanity and agreed (in principal) to limit further global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

However, the deal – frantically thrashed out by heads of state at practically the last minute – will require a massive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a series of further talks and . . . some teeth.

Switzerland said it views the agreement as a step in the right direction, though falling well short of the pre-conference objectives, according to Adrian Aschlimann, spokesman for the Swiss delegation in Copenhagen, headed by environment minister Moritz Leuenberger.

“Compared with what we had two years ago, this is a success because the big economies have elaborated a paper that shows that they actually want to do something,” Aschlimann told Swisster.

“However, if you compare it with what we expected before the conference, then this is a small step on a very long road forward,” he added.

The deal enables participating states to adopt measures to reduce emissions and to negotiate further issues over the coming months. But other participants from Switzerland are even less upbeat about the legally non-binding "Copenhagen Accord".

Kim Carstensenn, head of WWF's global climate initiative told Swisster. “We feel that it is a very weak outcome. There is no real change from what went before, and after two-years of the negotiation process, a two-and-a-half page document is not impressive.”

Carstensenn blamed failure on several factors. “Fundamentally we have not found a formula to break the mistrust between the north and south,” he said.

“Some developed countries did not put enough cash on the table early enough and developing countries have not felt the urge to move on an international level.”

“It was very clear from the beginning that there was a negative atmosphere driven by that very lack of trust. A weak presidency also contributed with quite a few tactical mistakes along the way which generated more mistrust,” he said.

Miriam Behrens, co-general-secretary of Switzerland’s Green Party, was also aghast. “We are confronted with one of the biggest problem that faces humanity and politicians are not willing to do anything about it,” she told Swisster.

“To decide on a two degree target but then to decide on no measures and no instruments to reach that target is absolutely ridiculous – empty words,” she added, before warning that repercussions of further climate change would be grave for Switzerland.

“We will pay a price, especially in the mountains. There will be very big problems with floods and landslides and I think that people are very much aware of that.”

Meantime reports said the right-of-centre Radical Party slammed the conference for not imposing any legal framework while the Swiss People’s Party pointed the finger at the United States, China and India.

If Bern sees the potential road to any meaningful deal as a “long one”, Aschlimann reckons the first major signpost should focus on the legal issue.

“They decided [during the conference] to have an intermediary meeting in Bonn in June and the next step will be [the next UN climate conference in] Mexico. We think that it would be good to sign up a legally binding accord in Mexico,” he said.

For Carstensenn the way forward is “at a national level, where we have a much better situation than we’ve ever had before. This is a key way. We need to work in countries like China, India, Brazil and Indonesia,” he said.

The Swiss press reacted to the conference outcome with resignation. The Tribune de Genève newspaper called the deal “almost a complete failure”, while Le Temps headlined their piece with: “strange climate deal”.

The German-language NZZ newspaper pointed out that although the government was slightly upbeat, many environmental groups and political groups, including the Socialist Party and the Free Democratic Party were disappointed.

SonntagsZeitung felt the words “chaotic drama” best described the final efforts in Copenhagen to reach some kind of agreement.