Future:Media:Change

Pressure is mounting on the US to reach a climate change deal but the real negotiations won’t happen in Copenhagen, they will happen at home and at the many conferences leading up to the Summit.

With Europe leading the way making sweeping promises to curb emissions, added pressure is being put on the US from the media, the international community as well as civil society. Negotiators won’t be making their final deals in Denmark however.

There are a number of key conferences leading up to Copenhagen that will make or break the final agreements including the US-EU Summit happening right now and President Obama’s visit to Beijing on the 14th of November.

In order to make any real change, we will need to start raising the noise now so that politicians know coming home without a concrete climate change plan will not be acceptable.

Long November – Ben Jervey, GOOD

But now, as pressure mounts and the potential for an embarrassing failure in Copenhagen rises, the real decision-makers might feel compelled to sit down, look each other in the eyes, and try to figure some things out. Bilateral meetings, summits, small forums—that’s where the real hope for a climate deal now lies. “The U.S. and E.U. need to sit down and fall in line,” the same expert told me. “Obama has to go to China with a plan. And then India… Negotiators meeting with negotiators? None of it really matters unless the leaders are meeting with other leaders.” Those leaders will have plenty of opportunity to do so this month.

Consider what follows to be something of an addendum to my earlier Countdown to Copenhagen calendar. These are some absolutely crucial meetings between vital players, any one of which could kick these talks into high gear—or, if Heads of State keep playing coy, derail them entirely.