The Copenhagen Climate conference: it still takes two to tango

Abstract

At Copenhagen most of the countries present had a better offer for emission reductions to table, but it needed the United States and China to go onto the dance floor to really get the party going. The US, while offering to help contribute to $100 billion a year in assistance from 2020 for least developed countries facing the full impact of climate change, did not move beyond an emissions reduction target of 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. This reduction is in the Waxman Markey Bill passed by the House of Representatives in 2009.