A CALL TO ACTION

With COP15 only weeks away Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has said that "it is physically impossible to finalize all the details of a treaty in Copenhagen". At the same time, however, de Boer emphasized the importance of agreeing on "political essentials that make a long-term response to climate change clear, possible, realistic and well-defined."

De Boer lists four critical elements of a Copenhagen agreement: emission reduction targets for industrial countries, commitments by developing countries to slow emissions growth, funding for developing countries and creating an institution to manage those funds.

Expectations of reaching a comprehensive, binding agreement at Copenhagen have been lowered because it seems unlikely that US legislation on climate change can be adopted by Congress ahead of the Copenhagen conference and because of continuing uncertainty on funding for developing countries to adjust to climate change.

Despite these developments, the Seal the Deal Campaign, which seeks to galvanize political will and public support for a comprehensive climate agreement, remains an important forum through which to maintain the momentum towards a climate agreement. Perhaps now more than ever, it will be critical that world leaders are made aware of the strong support for such an agreement, both from within civil society and the business community.

It is already clear that the political momentum that has been developed in the run up to COP15 will continue, even if a binding treaty agreement is not finalized. Both Norway and Sweden have initiated a call for continuing talks early in 2010 in the event that a treaty is not agreed. At the same time, there is still hope for an agreement and a strong conviction that, whatever the outcome, COP15 will set a new high water mark in the global response to climate change. Todd Stern, the US special envoy for climate change has said, "I think there's a deal to be had. That doesn't mean we're going to get it. I want to get a deal done, and I think we can".