Copenhagen Blog - Clinton puts figure on developing nations fund for first time

Written by George Lyon and published in the Steamie blog on Thu 17th Dec 2009

Conferences like this are always consumed by rumour and speculation, claim and counter claim. Today I heard, from my MEP colleagues, that the EU was considering only putting 25% on the table, instead of the expected 30% that the Parliament were pushing for, in hope of kick starting a deal as the final day of negotiations approaches.

This was quickly denied by a spokesperson, recognising that many parliamentarians, including myself, would see this as a fatalistic move that would only serve to encourage other groups to lower their ambitions.

There is hard news though. One positive was Hillary Clinton's speech to the Conference delivered earlier today. For the first time she put a figure to the amount of money developing countries need to help their economies grow while keeping emissions low.

She told delegates that it would take $100billion. The US Secretary of State would not put that on the record unless the US had some intention of putting real cash on the table to help developing countries buy into a deal.

With President Obama arriving tomorrow there are now signs that he will put his shoulder to the wheel and go the extra mile to secure an agreement.

So there are some sign of progress but it is becoming increasingly clear that a deal will be political, with no legal underpinning.

At a briefing a few minutes ago, the Swedish delegation, who hold the EU Presidency at the moment, said they were hopeful that a fringe group would be set up to try to clear some of the remaining obstacles to help them move towards an agreed text. Time is running out.