Climate kick-off

Monday sees the opening of marathon climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, with delegates from 192 nations - in addition to thousands of journalists - gathering in the Danish capital.

The 12-day talks - headed by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - are to commence with negotiations on the delegate level, before around 100 leaders gather for a closing summit on December 18.

"Negotiators now have the clearest signal ever from world leaders to craft solid proposals to implement rapid action," said Yvo de Boer, head of the UNFCCC.

"Never in 17 years of climate negotiations have so many different nations made so many firm pledges together," he added.

Two degrees Celsius

The negotiations are aimed at forging a new agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, before the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The Kyoto agreement, which was signed over a decade ago and took effect in 2005, was intended to stabilize atmospheric "greenhouse gas" levels, which scientists say are influencing the rate of global climate change.

Upon arrival on Monday, German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen said the Copenhagen conference had a clear objective.

"We have to establish a consensus that global warming must be limited to two degrees Celsius," Röttgen said, adding that "any other outcome from Copenhagen would be an unequivocal failure."

Over 50 of the world's newspapers published an editorial calling on leaders to agree on action to meet the two degrees Celsius goal or "risk seeing climate change ravage the planet."

New optimism

To realize the goal of limiting the extent of global warming, however, industrialized nations will not only have to limit their own emissions, they will also have to come up with a funding mechanism to help poorer nations control carbon emissions.

Analysts, though, stress the deep gap between the demands of developing countries and the willingness of rich countries to provide the necessary aid.

On Monday China renewed its call for developed nations to provide funding to help poorer countries fight climate change.

"It is obvious that the planet belongs to all nations, and although poor countries must bear responsibility, poor people must not pay a price that exceeds their own abilities," said the state-run Beijing News.

In the run-up to the summit, many were worried that economic interests of individual countries would get in the way of producing concrete strategies to curb global warming.

But recent pledges from major polluters like the United States, China and India have many approaching the summit more optimistically.

US President Barack Obama, who recently confirmed that he would attend the Copenhagen summit, has said his administration is looking to push through a new deal after the United States rejected the Kyoto Protocol under the administration of George W. Bush.

Late last month, Obama proposed a 17 percent cut below 2005 carbon dioxide levels by 2020.

China and India followed suit, proposing their own reductions compared to 2005 levels.

The European Union, meanwhile, has pledged to reduce its emission levels by 30 percent by 2020, provided the world's other leading nations make similar commitments.

However, the EU's 30 percent goal is compared with 1990 levels, making it more ambitious than than that of the US, China, or India.

glb/AP/Reuters
Editor: Kyle James