The Copenhagen summit on climate change has now been thrown into chaos on its first day of talks, after a leaked document regarding plans for cutting carbon emissions has prompted furious outbursts from attending nations.
But the Danish Government, which is hosting the event, has denied responsibility for the leak or even the creation of the paper, suggesting it could be one of many documents related to dozens of climate change proposals from scientists and different nations.
The document, which is reportedly a draft of a final “Copenhagen Agreement”, contains information about how global emissions will peak next decade, and a target to reduce warming to just two degrees Celsius, but did not include any draft agreements for reducing emissions by 2020.
A number of nations spoke out against the document, accusing several others of drafting the agreement as an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol, which requires more wealthy nations to take extensive action against emissions. Under the new document, richer nations could cause more emissions than developing nations.
The leak has caused a divide between the so-called “rich” and “poor” nations, with developing nations accusing more industrialised countries of forming the deal in private.
Leaders accused of being “friends” of the Danish conference chair include Kevin Rudd, UN secretary Ban Ki Moon and the leaders of several nations including Britain, Sweden and Mexico.
G77 head Lumumba Stanislas Dia Ping said the draft is a “serious violation that threatens the success of the Copenhagen negotiating process”.
“The G77 members will not walk out of this negotiation at this late hour because we can’t afford a failure in Copenhagen. However, we will not sign an unequitable deal. We can’t accept a deal that condemns 80% of the world population to further suffering and injustice,” he added.
Additionally, a number of nations including China have said the draft paper does not include a timetable for forming a binding agreement, and does not say an agreement should be made as a legally binding treaty.
Despite a statement issued by UN climate chief Yvo de Boer saying the decision paper put forward is just an informal document, while the Danish Government said the draft was not crafted in secret.
“In this kind of process, many different working papers are circulated among many different parties with their hands on the process… therefore, many papers exist,” a statement read.
Environmental groups including Oxfam and the WFF condemned the leak, saying the absence of a legally binding agreement does nothing to help cut emissions.
“What it reflects is what you can expect at this stage in the game – when the elephant’s in the room the ants get squeezed out,” Oxfam climate change advisor Antonio Hill told a press conference.
“And so the concern here is that poor countries will get left out. That’s a huge concern for us. The attention to this document takes the focus off the negotiations that are actually still in course just this minute, and I think the responsibility of the Danish presidency is to clear the air and then focus on those crunch issues.”
WWF’s global climate initiative head Kim Carstensen said the leak is distracting delegates from reaching a deal.
“The behind-the-scenes negotiations tactics… have been focusing on pleasing the rich and powerful countries,” he said in a statement.
Although a visit from US president Barack Obama on the last day of talks is expected to place pressure on a binding agreement, the leak has cast doubt on the summit’s likelihood of producing a legally binding document.
Talks will continue this week.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
