Things don't look so good...

December 17, 2009. Around 11:30 a.m.

Hopes Are Fading for Climate Accord at Copenhagen (NYTimes)

With just two days remaining in historic and contentious climate talks here, China signaled overnight that it sees virtually no possibility that the nearly 200 nations gathered would find agreement by Friday.

An official in the American delegation said that China would agree only to a brief political declaration that left unresolved virtually all the major issues.

The conference has deadlocked over emissions cuts by, and financing for, developing nations, including China, who say they will bear the brunt of a planetary problem they did little to create. Leaders had hoped to conclude an interim agreement on the major issues that would have “immediate operational effect.” The Chinese, it appears, are not willing to go that far at this meeting.

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Danish official: Hopes for climate deal slim (Associated Press)

A Danish official acknowledged that hope was running out for a comprehensive climate deal because the negotiations between rich and poor countries were deadlocked. The official said the Danish hosts of the U.N. conference had not given up though it appeared unlikely that their ambitious plan for the conference would be fulfilled. ''As it looks now, we will not get the deal that we had hoped for,'' said the official, who is not authorized to speak publicly about the talks and asked not to be named.

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Copenhagen Climate Talks In Trouble (Reuters)

China told participants it saw no possibility of achieving a detailed accord to tackle global warming ... the Chinese had instead suggested issuing "a short political declaration of some sort."

While the overall picture appears bleak, there has been some progress in areas critical to reaching a deal. Africa dramatically scaled back its expectations for climate aid from rich nations on Wednesday, and Japan pledged about $11 billion in public funds to 2012 to help poor countries adapt to a warmer world and cut their emissions.

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So yeah, it's unclear if Denmark et al are trying to tamp down expectations, in case the whole COP really does implode, or if they actually believe it's going down the drain now. I'm also not sure if the Chinese are truly digging in and refusing to budge, or if this is just brinksmanship, i.e. a negotiating tactic. Either way, it's upsetting -- and it feels kind of irresponsible for them to be doing this.

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However, REDD has been a potential bright spot. Here are a couple articles on REDD from yesterday:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/science/earth/16forest.html

The United States, Australia, France, Japan, Norway and Britain pledged $3.5 billion in the next three years to a program aimed at protecting rain forests. The U.S. portion was $1 billion.

http://cop15post.com/2009/12/16/news/redd-alert-over-draft-deforestation-text/