Copenhagen Blog - COP15 turns into cop out by world leaders

Written by George Lyon and published in the Steamie blog on Fri 18th Dec 2009

What was heralded as the last chance to save the planet has become a rushed attempt by world leaders to save face.

The Copenhagen Accord that has been agreed by world leaders has no legally binding targets, no transparency to monitor progress towards the domestic targets set, and no target date for finalising a real global deal in the future.

COP15 has turned into a cop out. No matter how much they spin it, world leaders cannot, in good conscience, claim that this is a 'meaningful agreement'.

If you wanted to look very, very hard for a silver lining, you could concede that it is a small step in the right direction given the potential for a complete collapse of talks as looked likely earlier on today.

But there is an overwhelming sense of frustration and deflation People, like the thousands of Scots who marched in the Wave protests, have every right to feel angered by the actions of those who they tasked with reaching a global solution to a global problem.

All quiet now at the Bella centre. That is how this agreement has been received - with deafening silence.