The biggest success of the Copenhagen negotiations seems to be that the talks will be seen as a disappointment rather than a complete farce.
Given this, it is unsurprising that leaders from Beijing to Berlin are lauding the results of the summit, namely a mostly US-brokered agreement that urges major polluters to make deeper emissions cuts, while not legally binding them to do so.
The role that China took in Denmark last week will come under intense scrutiny in the international media over the coming days, even if their state-media counterparts seem determined to present an ever-rosy picture of the nation as strong and fair participants. In fact, it seems that the storm is already brewing. Britain’s climate secretary Ed Milliband today accused China outright of wrecking agreements that would have legally bound developing nations to reducing emissions. He argued that the Chinese delegation vetoed the agreements, and generally did their best to make negotiations impossible, playing the conference like a football team intent on a 0-0 draw. “Their strategy was defensive, their tactics were tough and their tackling of opponents occasionally brutal,” Milliband said.
While Milliband’s accusations are indeed believable – China was always going to oppose an agreement that would have legally bound the country to reduce emissions – it would be unfair to blame China alone for the failure of Copenhagen to go far enough. In reality, all of the major nations at the summit failed to make it the bold and brave move forward it was supposed to be, and the environmentalists that have lobbied politicians across the world in the lead up to Copenhagen are right to be annoyed. Such anger was summed up on Monday by Yang Ailun of Greenpeace, who said: "There is a sense in the Chinese media that Copenhagen failed. I think they would like to forget Copenhagen."
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