Climate change measures slip to next year

Hopes are fading for a concrete response to climate change from the UN’s Copenhagen summit. Hosts Denmark are now proposing the end of next year as the new deadline for a binding treaty on greenhouse emissions.

“We expect that ministers – now that we meet for the last time before we meet in Copenhagen for the real COP 15, we expect that we could address the real crunch issues,” said Danish Environment minister Connie Hedegaard.

She was meeting with 40 environment ministers from rich and poor countries, with the latter group warning they were on the front line and would suffer the most from any climate change. They are increasingly frustrated at what they see as stalling from the developed world.

The latest floods in El Salvador which killed at least 190 people were just the most recent natural disaster being blamed on climate change, and coastal regions around the world could face similar disasters in years to come.

Faced with such dangers protestors are gearing up for Copenhagen next month, with demonstrations and campaigns attempting to put pressure on the negotiators.

The UN has also chipped in, releasing a clip to remind everyone how high the stakes are.

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tags: Climate, Denmark