A position that does not agree with Saudi Arabia

Cold and warm blew yesterday in the centre of Copenhagen during the first day of the Conference of the United Nations on climate change. The very moved votes, Connie Hedegaard, President of the Conference, said the 1,200 delegates from 192 countries as "never the political will were also strong." "If we miss this opportunity, it is not certain that this happen for years". She recalled the commitments announced by the India, China, South Korea, but also of South Africa, who promised yesterday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions growth and to set goal that they reach a peak between 2020 and 2025. Subsequently, first African economic power proposes to stabilize its emissions during a decade and then fall on condition that the West provides assistance in particular in the areas of financial, technological and know-how transfer.

"Binding instrument".

These gestures of good will of the developing countries do not mean to accept binding targets. Indeed, according to the text of the Kyoto Protocol, only Western pollution since the industrial revolution are submitted. Yesterday, the Sudanese representatives and Algerians, who speak on behalf of the G77 and China, have said their refusal to get out of the structure of the Kyoto Protocol, "because it is the only binding instrument in the world and for the time being Westerners have not shown their willingness to act."U.S. Representative has multiplied the gestures of goodwill, and stated the willingness of his country to be "constructive", and to participate in the financing of the $ 10 billion of rapid assistance promised by year until 2013 to developing countries. At the same time, the administration announced its willingness to enter the CO2 in the list of harmful products (see below). But his representative at the same time shown firm on the fact that emerging countries, strongly emitting CO2, must also act and accept a "transparent and international" control of their policies.

"Unequivocal threat."

The second thorny topic of the day was the questioning of the quality of the work of the Intergovernmental Group of experts on the evolution of the climate. Following the flight of thousands of e-mails from scientists of the Centre for research on climate (CRU) of the University of East Anglia in Great Britain ("Les Echos" of December 7), the Chairman of the IPCC Rajendra Pachauri made front. "We have a history of transparent and objective assessments of more than twenty-one years, established by tens of thousands of scientists from all corners of the planet." "We are transparent and objective and the threat of climate change is unequivocal," he repeated. A position that does not agree with Saudi Arabia. "The level of confidence is affected," screamed the head of the delegation of Saudi Mohammed al-Sabban leader of oil producing States, OPEC. And add before requiring an international investigation: "The Climategate will clearly affect the nature of what we can believe and directions to be taken in the coming days."Regulars of the climate conference meet their side that Saudi Arabia is well known for tirelessly financial compensation claim, since any reduction in the consumption of hydrocarbon on the climate policy implementation would lose income to OPEC. They also emphasize the recommendations of the UK Hadley centre seriously for that global emissions must know a peak by 2015 and then decline of 4 per year if we want to have a chance to avoid a greater than two degrees warming.