copenhagen

Video: Carlsberg’s Rasmussen Says Russian Market Share to Rise

by on February 21, 2011

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) — Carlsberg A/S Chief Executive Officer Joergen Rasmussen discusses rising costs and the outlook for sales in Russia after the Copenhagen-based brewer reported fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates. He talks with Andrea Catherwood on Bloomberg Television’s “The Pulse.”

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Video: Carlsberg’s Rasmussen Says Russian Market Share to Rise

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UN Climate Deal Marks A Tiny Step Forward For Fighting Climate Change

by AP on December 11, 2010

CANCUN, Mexico — A U.N. conference on Saturday adopted a modest climate deal creating a fund to help the developing world go green, though it deferred for another year the tough work of carving out deeper reductions in carbon emissions causing Earth to steadily warm. Though the accords were limited, it was the first time in three years the 193-nation conference adopted any climate action, restoring faith in the unwieldy U.N. process after the letdown a year ago at a much-anticipated summit in Copenhagen. The Cancun Agreements created institutions for delivering technology and funding to poorer countries, though they did not say where the funding would come from. In urging industrial countries to move faster on emissions cuts, it noted that scientists recommended reducing greenhouse gas emissions from industrial countries by 25 to 40 per cent from 1990 levels within the next 10 years. Current pledges amount to about 16 percent. Mexican President Felipe Calderon, in a 4 a.m. speech, declared the conference “a thoroughgoing success,” after two separate agreements were passed. The agreements shattered “the inertia of mistrust” that had settled over the frustrated efforts for a broad climate treaty, he said. One of the agreements renewed a framework for cutting greenhouse gas emissions but set no new targets for industrial countries. The second created a financial and technical support system for developing countries facing grave threats from global warming. Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa, the conference president, gaveled the deal through early Saturday over the objections of Bolivia’s delegate, who said it was so weak it would endanger the planet. Decisions at the U.N. climate talks are typically made by consensus, but Espinosa said consensus doesn’t “mean that one country has the right to veto” decisions supported by everyone else. The accord establishes a multibillion dollar annual Green Climate Fund to help developing countries cope with climate change, though it doesn’t say how the fund’s money is to be raised. Last year in Copenhagen governments agreed to mobilize $100 billion a year for developing countries, starting in 2020, much of which will be handled by the fund. The agreements also set rules for internationally funded forest conservation, and provides for climate-friendly technology to expanding economies. Espinosa won repeated standing ovations from a packed conference hall for her deft handling of bickering countries and for drafting an acceptable deal, though it fully satisfied no one. “It’s been a challenging, tiring and intensive week” said U.S. special climate envoy Todd Stern, clearly content with the results. The European Union’s top climate official, Connie Hedegaard, said Saturday’s decisions would help keep international climate talks on track. “But the two weeks in Cancun have shown once again how slow and difficult the process is,” Hedegaard said. “Everyone needs to be aware that we still have a long and challenging journey ahead of us to reach the goal of a legally binding global climate framework.” Christiana Figueres, the U.N.’s senior climate official, said the agreements would put all governments on cleaner trajectory. “Cancun has done its job,” she said. Environmentalists cautiously welcomed the deal. It “wasn’t enough to save the climate,” said Alden Meyer of the Washington-based Union of Concerned Scientists. “But it did restore the credibility of the United Nations as a forum where progress can be made.” The Cancun deal finessed disputes between industrial and developing countries on future emissions cuts and incorporates voluntary reduction pledges attached to the Copenhagen Accord that emerged from last year’s climate summit in the Danish capital. It struck a skillful compromise between the U.S. and China, which had been at loggerheads throughout the two week conclave on methods for monitoring and verifying actions to curtail greenhouse gases. “What we have now is a text that, while not perfect, is certainly a good basis for moving forward,” Stern said during the decisive conference meeting. His Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, sounded a similar note and added, “The negotiations in the future will continue to be difficult.” The accord “goes beyond what we expected when we came here,” said Wendel Trio of the Greenpeace environmental group. Underscoring what’s at stake in the long-running climate talks, NASA reported that the January-November 2010 global temperatures were the warmest in the 131-year record. Its data indicated the year would likely end as the warmest on record, or tied with 2005 as the warmest. The U.N.’s top climate science body has said swift and deep reductions are required to keep temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.8 F) above preindustrial levels, which could trigger catastrophic climate impacts. Bolivian delegate Pablo Solon protested that the weak pledges of the Copenhagen Accord condemned the Earth to temperature increases of up to 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 F), saying that is tantamount to “ecocide” that could cost millions of lives. He also complained that the text was being railroaded over his protests in violation of the U.N.’s consensus rules. In the 1992 U.N. climate treaty, the world’s nations promised to do their best to rein in carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases emitted by industry, transportation and agriculture. In the two decades since, the annual conferences’ only big advance came in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, when parties agreed on modest mandatory reductions by richer nations. But the U.S., alone in the industrial world, rejected the Kyoto Protocol, complaining it would hurt its economy and that such emerging economies as China and India should have taken on emissions obligations. Since then China has replaced the U.S. as the world’s biggest emitter, but it has resisted calls that it assume legally binding commitments – not to lower its emissions, but to restrain their growth. Here at Cancun such issues came to a head, as Japan and Russia fought pressure to acknowledge in a final decision that they will commit to a second period of emissions reductions under Kyoto, whose current targets expire in 2012. The Japanese complained that with the rise of China, India, Brazil and others, the 37 Kyoto industrial nations now account for only 27 percent of global greenhouse emissions. They want a new, legally binding pact obligating the U.S., China and other major emitters.

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UN Climate Deal Marks A Tiny Step Forward For Fighting Climate Change

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Video: Carlsberg’s Rasmussen Says Higher Costs May Hurt Outlook

November 9, 2010

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) — Joergen Buhl Rasmussen, chief executive officer of Carlsberg A/S, talks about third-quarter profit and the brewer’s outlook. The maker of Tuborg and Baltika beer fell the most in six months in Copenhagen trading after profit missed estimates and the company said it will raise prices because of rising costs. Rasmussen speaks from Copenhagen with Andrea Catherwood on Bloomberg Television’s “The Pulse.”

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Jeffrey Rubin: High Energy Prices, Not Wind Turbines, Make Copenhagen Green

August 31, 2010

The first thing you notice as you fly into Copenhagen, where I recently made a speech, is the ring of wind turbines surrounding the city . I guess that’s why it was chosen to be the backdrop for the world environmental summit last December. There is certainly much to be said for Denmark’s leadership in green energy. While North American carbon emissions have risen by around 30 per cent since 1990 (the reference point for the Kyoto Accord), Denmark’s emissions are actually lower than they were two decades ago. That’s generally ascribed to the fact that a world-leading 20 per cent of the power generated in Denmark comes from wind. Less commonly known is the source of the other 80 per cent. I was surprised to discover that it comes from good old King Coal. In fact, coal’s share of power generation in Denmark’s power grid is basically the same as it is in China. Since green energy technology accounts for 12 per cent of the country’s exports, I can understand why Denmark wants to showcase its wind turbines instead of its smokestacks. But it’s power from those smokestacks that turn on the lights in Copenhagen, at least for the most part. How, then, has Denmark been so successful in managing its carbon emissions? The answer lies not with the source of power, but with the price of power. At 30 cents per kilowatt hour, electricity costs anywhere from three to five times what the average North American would pay. And, not surprisingly, Danish households consume a fraction of the power that we do. But I bet if you charged 30 cents per kilowatt hour for power in coal-burning states like Wyoming and West Virginia, they, too, could cap their emissions, and without having to install a single wind turbine. The other reason commonly cited for Denmark’s success at carbon management is cars–or, more precisely, the lack thereof. Nearly everyone in Copenhagen seems to be riding a bicycle . At first I thought this was testament to the environmental consciousness of the populace, or at a minimum, to a commitment to physical fitness. Then I checked out what it costs to buy a car. Depending on how many horses are under the hood, Danish car buyers pay a tax ranging anywhere from 100 to 180 per cent of the sticker price of the vehicle. In other words, when you purchase a car in Copenhagen, you can pay almost as much as if you were buying three cars in North America. At that tax rate, I’d be riding a bike too. What I learned from my trip to Copenhagen is that you don’t have to be a world leader in green energy technology to cap your carbon emissions. Just charge 30 cents per kilowatt hour for power, and slap a 180 per cent surcharge on vehicle prices. Consumers will do all the rest.

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Video: Saxo’s Blaabjerg Says BHP May Overpay in Bid for Potash: Video

August 19, 2010

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) — Christian Blaabjerg, chief equity strategist at Saxo Bank A/S, talks from Copenhagen about BHP Billiton Ltd.’s hostile $40 billion takeover offer for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, arranged $45 billion of credit for its bid of Potash Corp., the largest since it agreed to a $55 billion loan in the unsuccessful acquisition of Rio Tinto Group. Blaabjerg talks with Bloomberg’s Maryam Nemazee. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Video: Blaabjerg Says Stocks May Fall on Successful Bank Tests

July 21, 2010

June 21 (Bloomberg) — Christian Blaabjerg, chief equity strategist at Saxo Bank A/S, talks about the outlook for European bank stress tests and their effect on investor confidence. He speaks with Maryam Nemazee from Copenhagen on Bloomberg Television’s “Start Up.”

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Altria’s Fourth-Quarter Profit Advances 6.8%, Helped by Acquisition of UST

January 28, 2010

By Chris Burritt Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) — Altria Group Inc. , the largest U.S. tobacco company, said fourth-quarter profit rose 6.8 percent, bolstered by the acquisition of snuff maker UST Inc. Net income increased to $725 million, or 35 cents a share, from $679 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier, the Richmond, Virginia-based maker of top-selling Marlboro cigarettes said today in a statement. Excluding some items, earnings were 39 cents, compared with analysts’ projection of 40 cents, the average of 10 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Cigarette shipments fell 11 percent and Marlboro’s share of U.S. smokers dropped after Altria increased prices three times last year. The company started selling a wintergreen flavor of UST’s Copenhagen snuff in November, spurring demand for smokeless tobacco. “We’ll see how sustainable the Copenhagen wintergreen launch proves to be,” Thomas Russo , who manages more than $3 billion in assets including Altria shares at Gardner Russo & Gardner, said today in a telephone interview. “They’re facing competitive price promotions in their most important category, which is cigarettes.” Gardner Russo, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, held 6.4 million Altria shares as of Sept. 30, according to Bloomberg data. Annual profit will be $1.85 to $1.89 a share, the company said, compared with analysts’ estimate of $1.87. Market Share Marlboro’s U.S. market share slipped 0.4 percentage point to 41.7 percent in the fourth quarter, hurt by promotions by rivals including Reynolds American Inc., the maker of Camel and Pall Mall. Altria’s total cigarette market share fell 1.5 points to 49.4 percent. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Szymanczyk engineered Altria’s acquisition of UST a year ago to counter falling cigarette demand. It bought cigarette maker John Middleton Inc. in 2007. Altria was little changed in early U.S. trading. The stock advanced 3 cents to $19.99 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares climbed 30 percent last year, outpacing a 23 percent gain by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at cburritt@bloomberg.net .

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Gregory Unruh: Davos: Copenhagen, Take 2

January 26, 2010

Maybe the World Economic Forum in Davos at the end of the month can provide an opportunity for the negotiations that didn’t happen in Copenhagen. Let’s face it; the world is very different from when the original Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed by George H.W. Bush in 1992. Back then the big negotiating players were the United States, Europe and Japan. In Copenhagen the players were the US, China, India, Brazil and South Africa. The international power shift is obvious. As new powers arise their concerns have to be accommodated. But outside the diplomatic world of nation-states, the hierarchy of economic influence looks far more stable. Exxon, Ford, GM, Chevron, Mobile, Texaco all made the top 10 of the Fortune 500 when Bush was negotiating in 1992. And even after the recent economic battering, they appeared in the top 10 again when Barack Obama was negotiating in Copenhagen last month. Ask any diplomat not from the US and they will tell you Copenhagen was a debacle. Copenhagen was solely a nation-state event, so businesses were not invited. They are, however, key players in any negotiated solution. No matter what the hardcore environmentalists envision, fossil fuels are not going to be phased out any time soon. The urgent need is to therefore ensure that a sustainable carbon economy is not an oxymoron. Those Fortune Top 10 companies in many cases own the technological capabilities that can make a sustainable carbon economy a reality. And, of course, they have the most to lose if we don’t. Just like the rise of new political powers, the roles of these companies needs to be accepted in climate deal making. That’s difficult to swallow for nation-states accustomed to having the sole say on international rules. It will also drive protectionist types out of their mind to let corporations have a say in international governance. And it will sorely test CEOs’ commitment to the new zeitgeist of socially responsible corporate behavior. But the truth is these companies already have this power and concomitant responsibilities. Thanks to the liberalization of trade, communications and financial markets, global corporations are major players in the structure and governance of the global economy. Policy decisions made in executive boardrooms can have far greater impact on countries’ economic development than most international aid programs. That’s a reality that climate policy needs to face. And the truth is that without the support of the companies economically dependent on fossil fuels, the climate problem can’t be solved fast enough to stave off unwanted disruptions. You can’t have these conversations at UN climate meetings. The role of corporate lobbyists here is backroom arm twisting. But one place where these types of conversations can be publically held is in Davos. The World Economic Forum has 1,000 corporate members and Davos is a place where they confab with their political counterparts. The conversations will be difficult. Politicians have to respond to their political constituencies (presumably voters) and Chief Executives have to respond to their financial constituencies (presumably shareholders). But both can gain by a deal. And so can the world. Gregory Unruh is Director of the Lincoln Center at Thunderbird School of Global Management and author of “Earth, Inc.” published by Harvard Business Press.

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Carbon Permit Prices Tumble After Copenhagen Accord Misses `Modest’ Goals

December 21, 2009

By Mathew Carr and Ewa Krukowska Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) — European and United Nations carbon prices fell the most since February after the Copenhagen climate accord didn’t set targets that would boost demand for permits. European Union carbon-dioxide allowances for delivery in December 2010 declined as much as 8.7 percent to 12.40 euros on the European Climate Exchange in London. They traded down 5.7 percent at 1 p.m. on the first day of trading since the summit concluded Dec. 19. The agreed targets in the Copenhagen deal amount to a “bunch of negotiation ranges” that investors had already factored in, Trevor Sikorski , an emissions analysts for Barclays Capital, said in a phone interview after returning to London from the Danish capital. “It seems to be below even our modest expectations.” U.S. President Barack Obama said the climate-change accord he reached with China and most of the 193 attending nations on Dec. 18 was an “unprecedented” first step to slow global warming. Environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth called it a failure because it’s not a binding treaty and the targets fall short of what the United Nations climate adviser said is needed to prevent catastrophic climate change. Today’s decline for permits in the EU, which runs the world’s largest cap-and-trade system, extends last week’s drop of 6.8 percent. Allowances for delivery in December 2010 have fallen 22 percent this year as the lack of progress on climate talks and recession reduced demand. Second-Biggest Market The UN’s Certified Emission Reductions credits for delivery next year fell as much 7 percent, the most since Feb. 20, and traded at 11.10 euros as of 1:05 p.m. on London’s European Climate Exchange. The credits, which trade in the world’s second-biggest carbon market, are down 19 percent this year. The U.S. will probably cut its emissions by 14 percent to 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, subject to approval in the Senate, according to an information note circulated by European Union officials in Copenhagen along with the accord. Today’s drop in carbon prices “is obviously linked to Copenhagen, but we’re surprised by that, because when it comes to the carbon market nothing has changed,” Jos Delbeke , deputy director general for environment at the European Commission in Brussels, said in an interview in Brussels. The EU said it will stick to its target of cutting emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels, and is on track to meet the goal. The bloc had considered upping its target to 30 percent if countries like the U.S. and China pledged further cuts. ‘Dispirited’ by Outcome Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, speaking for the 27-nation bloc, said EU leaders decided to stay at 20 percent. That will help drive EU prices lower, Sikorski said. “It would be foolish to be anything other than dispirited by the outcome” of the Copenhagen meeting, the International Emissions Trading Association said today in an e-mailed statement. The climate talks were a “step backward” in terms of signals that will support carbon prices, Henry Derwent , president of the Geneva-based group, said in the statement. The talks did make some progress in setting a precedent for “highest level” political participation in climate talks, Derwent said. “Heads of state are engaged and negotiating,” he said. “The few biggest polluters are lining up as the key parties for future negotiations. Indeed, a precedent appears to have been set in terms of getting a political deal first and turning it into a global framework later.” Offset Credits The U.S. is considering a law that may boost demand for so- called offset credits from the UN starting around 2012. The credits, awarded to companies and investors from richer countries that pay for emission reductions in the developing world, can be used for compliance in the EU market. The two-week climate meeting, concluded a day behind schedule, failed to deliver most of improvements needed in the UN market, said Kim Carnahan , a UN emissions-trading researcher at the emissions trading association. Its members include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Changes agreed to for the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism were “not decisive action to which the market can immediately react,” Carnahan said by e-mail. UN envoys put off action on proposals for so-called “standardized baselines,” which would have made it easier for projects that reduce emissions more than industry benchmarks to win credits, according to a text approved in Copenhagen. ‘Incredibly Frustrating’ Projects are now approved on a case-by-case basis and must show they need credits to be feasible. That approval process has produced a backlog, with 66 percent of 5,641 of the proposed projects that the UN received since 2003 waiting as of Dec. 4, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The proposal for industry baselines would have meant more credits, traders said. “I find it incredibly frustrating” that countries can spend days discussing potential technological solutions to climate change such as synthetic trees while they “punt critical issues like standardized baselines” to a technical working group for a year, Carnahan said. The UN carbon market has staffing shortages and needs more than six months to streamline approvals, Lex de Jonge , chairman of its regulatory board, said this month. “We are not going to come back on Jan. 1 and see a jump in the issuance,” Alessandro Vitelli , director of strategy and information at IDEAcarbon in London, said in an interview Dec. 19 in Copenhagen. An appeals process, better communication between the CDM board and project developers, as well as smoother registration and issuance procedures may help the program boost productivity next year, he said. For Related News and Information: Emissions-trading stories EMIT U.K. power-market stories TNI UK PWRMARKET . Today’s top energy, environment news ETOP , GREEN

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Stocks Climb, Bonds Fall on Global Economic Recovery; Carbon Permits Drop

December 21, 2009

By Justin Carrigan Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) — Stocks rose and bonds dropped around the world on evidence that the economic recovery is gathering momentum. Carbon-permit prices dropped after world leaders failed to set binding emissions targets at the Copenhagen climate summit. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index gained 0.7 percent as of 12:23 p.m. in London. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.5 percent. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed 4 basis points to 3.58 percent. European carbon-dioxide allowances for delivery in December 2010 fell as much as 8.7 percent to 12.40 euros a metric ton. Nickel climbed the most in five weeks on Russian plans to tax exports of the metal. Europe’s economy may expand by 0.7 percent next year and by 1.5 percent in 2011 after governments around the world provided “massive economic support,” the European Commission said today. U.K. gross domestic product will expand 1.2 percent next year, the Confederation of British Industry said, raising a previous forecast for growth of 0.9 percent. U.S. consumers probably earned and spent more in November, economists said before reports scheduled for release this week. “The market has already bought the recovery,” said William de Vijlder , chief investment officer at Fortis Investment Management in Brussels, which manages about $246 billion. “We need to see confirmation that indeed these expectations have proved to be justified.” Russian Stocks Rise The MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations’ stocks advanced 0.4 percent. Safran SA climbed 3.6 percent in Paris after winning a $5 billion contract to supply engines for China’s first narrowbody aircraft. Natixis SA added 3.4 percent after the French bank said it will be profitable in the fourth quarter. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4 percent, as Hong Kong- listed property developers and insurers declined on concern China will do more to curb real-estate speculation. Soho China Ltd., the biggest developer in Beijing’s central business district, dropped 4.5 percent and Poly (Hong Kong) Investment Ltd. lost 6.1 percent. The gain in index futures indicated the benchmark gauge for U.S. equities may extend the 0.6 percent advance made on Dec. 18. Last-minute shopping in the days leading up to Christmas may make up for lost weekend sales on the U.S. East Coast after record snowfalls shut stores early and kept shoppers at home, the National Retail Federation said. Voluntary Reductions European Union carbon permits fell the most since February on the European Climate Exchange. The U.S., China, India and other nations attending the two-week Copenhagen summit that ended at the weekend agreed to voluntary, rather than binding, targets to reduce emissions. The accord isn’t enough to boost demand for permits, said Trevor Sikorski , an emissions analyst at Barclays Capital in London. The dollar strengthened against 12 of the 16 most-traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg, and was little changed against the euro at $1.4336 after earlier reaching a three-month high of $1.4281. The rand dropped 1.1 percent to the weakest level against the dollar since Nov. 5. The Swiss franc was little changed against the euro, after rising as much as 0.7 percent earlier. Nickel rallied as much as 4.6 percent to $17,790 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange as Russia’s government decided to reimpose a 5 percent tax on nickel exports that was suspended in January. Russia is home to OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of the stainless-steel ingredient. Copper for three-month delivery added 0.9 percent to $6,907 a ton, the first gain in three days. Government bonds declined, with the yield on the two-year U.S. Treasury note rising 2 basis points to 0.82 percent. The yield on the German 10-year bund, Europe’s benchmark government security, climbed 2 basis points to 3.16 percent. Greece’s bonds fell for a third day, pushing the 10-year yield 11 basis points higher to 5.89 percent to its highest level since March. To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Carrigan in London at jcarrigan@bloomberg.net

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Editorial: Copenhagen accord

December 20, 2009

Editorial: Copenhagen accord

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WWF disappointed over results of Copenhagen summit

December 19, 2009

WWF disappointed over results of Copenhagen summit

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Belgium disappointed over Copenhagen deal

December 19, 2009

Belgium disappointed over Copenhagen deal

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Climate-Change Agreement Reached Between U.S., China, Developing Nations

December 18, 2009

By Kim Chipman and Nicholas Johnston Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. and developing countries including China reached a preliminary accord on climate change that is first step toward combating the problem, a White House official said. The agreement was reached after President Barack Obama met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao , Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South African President, Jacob Zuma , according to the official who requested anonymity. The U.S. and China have been at an impasse at United Nations-led negotiations in Copenhagen, where 193 countries are struggling to agree on terms for a new accord to cut greenhouse- gas emissions. Obama has proposed a $100 billion-a-year international fund to help poor countries deal with climate change, which is part of today’s accord. Obama had said China and other major emitters must agree to independent verification of their actions to fight climate change. China has said such a demand is unfair. The White House official today said industrialized and developing countries have agreed to provide information on implementation of their actions through national communications and analysis under clearly defined guidelines. To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in Copenhagen at KChipman@bloomberg.net ; Nicholas Johnston in Copenhagen at njohnston6@bloomberg.net

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Climate Envoys Consider Delaying Binding Accord Beyond 2010

December 18, 2009

By Alex Morales and Jeremy van Loon Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — United Nations climate envoys may drop their plan to complete a binding global-warming agreement by the end of 2010, as two weeks of talks in Copenhagen overran their deadline with no framework to forge a treaty. A draft agreement to be signed in the Danish capital omitted a requirement that nations adopt “one or more legal instruments” to fight global warming during a UN meeting planned in Mexico City in November. The 2010 limit was in an earlier draft today. “The big obstacle is the gap between developed and developing countries: We’re playing ping-pong,” Haimoude Ould Ahmed, a senator from Mauritania, said in an interview in Copenhagen. “We’ll have to prolong the talks into the night and tomorrow morning. We’re worried. We had many hopes.” With a gulf remaining between China and the U.S., the biggest greenhouse-gas emitters, U.S. President Barack Obama scheduled a second meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao for 7 p.m., an hour after the planned close of the 193-nation summit. The draft, obtained by Bloomberg News, retains several elements from its earlier version. One calls for containing the average global temperature to within 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial times. Another provision of the “Copenhagen Accord,” which lacks final approval, calls for the richest nations to provide climate aid to developing nations of $30 billion over the next three years and $100 billion annually by the end of 2020, a plan that has won endorsement by the U.S. 80 Percent Emissions Cut The proposal also seeks an 80 percent emissions-cut by rich countries by 2050 and stopped short of listing any goals for 2020. Delegates said the summit, scheduled to end at 6 p.m. today, won’t end until at least tomorrow. There was opposition by some of the 119 world leaders attending the conference to the draft text, because it isn’t one of two official United Nations negotiating texts that are the product of two years of talks. “The documents that were being worked on for two years were left there frozen, like the snow falling here in Copenhagen,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told reporters earlier today. “Now they’re trying to bring a document out of nothing. We can’t support or accept that which we don’t know.” Earlier today, U.S. President Barack Obama met privately with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao for almost an hour. Wen later failed to attend a meeting between Obama and other world leaders, adding to speculation the world’s two biggest emitters are far apart on an agreement to fight climate change. Bolivian President Evo Morales also said his country “can’t accept” the document. Chavez and Morales made their comments before the latest draft was published. Temperature Target The new draft changes wording about a temperature target, saying nations should strive to keep warming to “below 2 degrees.” Earlier the text said the rise in global temperatures “ought not to exceed 2 degrees.” Neither draft specified the units, though envoys from the U.S., Europe and China have backed a target of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.) Accepting 2 degrees “is to finish with all the islands in the world,” Bolivia’s Morals said. Delegates put an “X” for the 2020 target, compared with 1990 levels in both the new and earlier drafts. “This cannot be the outcome of Copenhagen: they’re going to have to do a lot more work,” Cindy Baxter , a spokeswoman for the environmental campaign group Greenpeace said earlier today in an interview in the Danish capital. Envoys from 193 nations are trying to craft a declaration to conclude the talks, which are being attended by about 120 world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama , who repeated U.S. emissions pledges and financial aid today. The draft text included provisions for a total of $30 billion in climate aid from rich to poor nations over three years, rising to $100 billion annually by 2020, a figure Obama said the U.S. supports. European delegates and UN Framework Convention on climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer last month said the Copenhagen summit, the culmination of two years of negotiations, wouldn’t produce a legally binding treaty to curb greenhouse gases, and that it should set a firm timeline to achieve one. To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in Copenhagen via amorales2@bloomberg.net ; Jeremy van Loon in Copenhagen via jvanloon@bloomberg.net

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Climate-Change Deal Hinges on Verifying Carbon Reductions, Clinton Says

December 17, 2009

By Jeremy van Loon and Jim Efstathiou Jr. Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — The top U.S. diplomat arrived at climate change talks in Copenhagen and said the world’s biggest economy would be part of an agreement only if emissions reductions in poorer nations can be verified. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. is prepared to contribute to an aid package valued at $100 billion by 2020 for developing countries to curb greenhouse gases and cope with climate change. The offer is conditional on commitments from China and other nations to “transparency” in monitoring pledges to cut carbon-dioxide emissions, she said. The U.S., China and the European Union, the world’s biggest polluters, are racing against the clock to complete a climate change deal with one day left of UN talks in the Danish capital. Negotiators have yet to agree on measures to confirm how nations will limit gas discharges they promise. “The U.S. is ready to do our part,” Clinton told reporters today at the Bella Center in Copenhagen where the talks are taking place. Failure to meet U.S. conditions on monitoring reductions is a “deal breaker,” she said. Formal negotiations resumed today after a decision to proceed with two UN drafts, one that extends the existing Kyoto Protocol climate accord and a new agreement that calls for emissions curbs from developing nations. An accord that sets out details on financing and technology for poor nations as well as an agreement to limit temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) is still possible, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today. ‘No Insurmountable Wall’ “My talks this week convinced me that while the challenges are difficult there is no insurmountable wall of division to reaching agreement now,” Brown told a hall full of world leaders. United Nations envoys from 193 countries meeting for two weeks in Copenhagen have so far failed to complete a climate- change treaty because of divisions over how much to pay poor nations and whether China and India should have their promises to cut carbon measured and verified by international auditors. Almost 120 prime ministers, presidents and vice presidents from nations accounting for 89 percent of the world’s gross domestic product begin meetings today to unblock the impasse. The UN official who supervises the talks expressed optimism today. “Hold tight and mind the doors, the cable car is moving again,” Yvo De Boer , executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, told reporters today. “We now have clarity on the process, we have clarity on the documents that will be the basis of the work.” Tracking Tools The Obama administration wants any climate accord to have tools to verify that nations are abiding by promises to cut emissions. China and India don’t want their national commitments to become legally binding in an international treaty. “Secretary Clinton’s announcement can be a game changer for the Copenhagen climate summit,” Alden Meyer of the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists said today in an interview. “The key issue, of course, is what portion of this $100 billion per year will be public finance.” China’s lead negotiator at the talks, Su Wei , said an agreement can be reached in Copenhagen that China “hopes” could be translated into a final deal “by the middle of next year, if possible, or if not, then by the end of the year.” While the world’s biggest polluters remain optimistic about reaching a deal, delegates from Africa and other developing nations are less willing to accept a compromise. “No deal is better than to have a bad deal, particularly for Africa,” said Algerian envoy Kamel Djemouai , who speaks for 53 African nations. “To get to a bad deal with our heads of state here is quite difficult for anybody to accept here.” A deal this week in Copenhagen may include a timeline to help negotiators tackle obstacles that are holding back progress. A series of meetings are planned through 2010, with a final session set for Mexico City a year from now. To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Copenhagen via jvanloon@bloomberg.net

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Climate-Change Deal Hinges on Verifying Carbon Reductions, Clinton Says

December 17, 2009

By Jeremy van Loon and Jim Efstathiou Jr. Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — The top U.S. diplomat arrived at climate change talks in Copenhagen and said the world’s biggest economy would be part of an agreement only if emissions reductions in poorer nations can be verified. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. is prepared to contribute to an aid package valued at $100 billion by 2020 for developing countries to curb greenhouse gases and cope with climate change. The offer is conditional on commitments from China and other nations to “transparency” in monitoring pledges to cut carbon-dioxide emissions, she said. The U.S., China and the European Union, the world’s biggest polluters, are racing against the clock to complete a climate change deal with one day left of UN talks in the Danish capital. Negotiators have yet to agree on measures to confirm how nations will limit gas discharges they promise. “The U.S. is ready to do our part,” Clinton told reporters today at the Bella Center in Copenhagen where the talks are taking place. Failure to meet U.S. conditions on monitoring reductions is a “deal breaker,” she said. Formal negotiations resumed today after a decision to proceed with two UN drafts, one that extends the existing Kyoto Protocol climate accord and a new agreement that calls for emissions curbs from developing nations. An accord that sets out details on financing and technology for poor nations as well as an agreement to limit temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) is still possible, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today. ‘No Insurmountable Wall’ “My talks this week convinced me that while the challenges are difficult there is no insurmountable wall of division to reaching agreement now,” Brown told a hall full of world leaders. United Nations envoys from 193 countries meeting for two weeks in Copenhagen have so far failed to complete a climate- change treaty because of divisions over how much to pay poor nations and whether China and India should have their promises to cut carbon measured and verified by international auditors. Almost 120 prime ministers, presidents and vice presidents from nations accounting for 89 percent of the world’s gross domestic product begin meetings today to unblock the impasse. The UN official who supervises the talks expressed optimism today. “Hold tight and mind the doors, the cable car is moving again,” Yvo De Boer , executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, told reporters today. “We now have clarity on the process, we have clarity on the documents that will be the basis of the work.” Tracking Tools The Obama administration wants any climate accord to have tools to verify that nations are abiding by promises to cut emissions. China and India don’t want their national commitments to become legally binding in an international treaty. “Secretary Clinton’s announcement can be a game changer for the Copenhagen climate summit,” Alden Meyer of the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists said today in an interview. “The key issue, of course, is what portion of this $100 billion per year will be public finance.” China’s lead negotiator at the talks, Su Wei , said an agreement can be reached in Copenhagen that China “hopes” could be translated into a final deal “by the middle of next year, if possible, or if not, then by the end of the year.” While the world’s biggest polluters remain optimistic about reaching a deal, delegates from Africa and other developing nations are less willing to accept a compromise. “No deal is better than to have a bad deal, particularly for Africa,” said Algerian envoy Kamel Djemouai , who speaks for 53 African nations. “To get to a bad deal with our heads of state here is quite difficult for anybody to accept here.” A deal this week in Copenhagen may include a timeline to help negotiators tackle obstacles that are holding back progress. A series of meetings are planned through 2010, with a final session set for Mexico City a year from now. To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Copenhagen via jvanloon@bloomberg.net

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Climate-Change Talks May Set Deadlines; China Says Accord Still Possible

December 17, 2009

By Jeremy van Loon and Alex Morales Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — United Nations envoys in Copenhagen who have failed to complete a climate-change treaty say they may set deadlines to complete a binding agreement in 2010. China today said an accord can be reached that may translate into a final deal by the middle of next year. “We’re still pushing to get a timeline,” said Artur Runge-Metzger , chief climate negotiator for the European Commission, in an interview today. China and the U.S. are also committed to get a deal by the end of next year, delegates said. One day before the two-week talks are scheduled to end, envoys from 193 countries are trying to agree on a to-do list for next year after giving up on setting legal limits for individual countries to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. “The clock is ticking and we do not have the luxury of time,” said Su Wei , China’s lead negotiator. “We would strive for an earlier time schedule because this is really urgent.” China’s Su said an agreement can be reached in Copenhagen that China “hopes” could be translated into a final deal “by the middle of next year, if possible, or if not, then by the end of the year.” In the Danish capital, where snow fell yesterday as world leaders began to arrive to wrap up the global-warming talks, progress on the accord was slowed as the 119 leaders prepared to take charge of the negotiations. With disagreements remaining over financing for poor countries, measurement and verification of carbon emissions as well as CO2 targets for rich nations, the Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, who is also president of UN climate talks, is putting together a new draft to unblock the talks. Mexico City A timeline would help negotiators tackle obstacles that are holding back progress. A series of meetings are planned through 2010, with a final session set for Mexico City a year from now. Meanwhile, China and the U.S. are still at loggerheads over verifying emissions reductions. The Obama administration wants any climate accord that emerges from talks in Copenhagen to have tools to verify that nations are abiding by promises to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. China and India don’t want their national commitments to become legally binding in an international treaty. To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Copenhagen via jvanloon@bloomberg.net ; Alex Morales in Copenhagen via amorales2@bloomberg.net .

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Copenhagen Climate Accord May Miss Scientific Goals to Slow Global Warming

December 17, 2009

By Jim Efstathiou Jr. Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — World leaders taking control of stalled climate talks today in Copenhagen may find the measures acceptable to 193 nations fall short of what scientists demand to slow global warming. Developed nations such as the U.S. and Japan may agree by tomorrow to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by about half what United Nations scientists said are needed to keep the planet from overheating. That’s a view shared by representatives of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Merrill Lynch & Co. and the European Commission, which represents 27 European nations. “We’ll only have the minimum level of commitments coming out of Copenhagen,” Abyd Karmali , London-based global head of carbon emissions for BofA Merrill Lynch, said in an interview. “There’s a scaling back of expectations” on bigger measures. World leaders from China, the U.S., the European Union and India, the top polluters, are taking charge of the talks from envoys who have bickered over key provisions since Dec. 7. The talks are scheduled to finish tomorrow. By 2020, developed nations must cut emissions 25 percent to 40 percent from 1990 to “stand a chance” of keeping the global temperature within 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) of pre-industrial times, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. While a 2-degree pledge is possible, nations don’t seem to be putting the targets in place. “Everybody has to show a higher level of ambition,” U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters yesterday. “We’re looking to every part of the world to look again at numbers and see how ambitious they can be.” ‘More Ominous’ For 20 years, scientists working for the United Nations have provided guidance for global climate talks. The only achievement with teeth is the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 accord that limits greenhouse-gas emissions among 37 industrialized nations. Those targets are set to expire in 2012, leaving the world without binding goals if Copenhagen doesn’t renew them. “Whatever we are going to achieve here, I would think that there’s something better,” European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in an interview. “Already, science is telling us that climate change is accelerating and the impacts are more ominous than previously thought.” Developing nations such as China and India have called on the U.S. to reduce emissions 40 percent by in the period. The European Union has offered 20 percent. U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to pledge a cut of around 17 percent from 2005, or about 4 percent from the base year others use. “There’s a realization that with the United States not being able to move past the 17 percent based on 2005, everyone is going to have to scale back in the short term,” Karmali said. Steeper Cuts Later? The final accord may include the aggregate cut already pledged by rich nations, said Elliot Diringer , who oversees international strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, in Arlington, Virginia. That amounts to about 18 percent over the three decades. That pledge will require steeper, costlier reductions later in order to meet the 2-degree Celsius target, he said. “It is very likely going to fall short of what the science suggests is needed but this is just another step on the path” to stronger measures, Diringer said. Dimas said he expects an agreement on a 2-degree target, a commitment from rich nations to cut emissions by about 18 percent by 2020, commitments by developing nations to reduce the growth of their emissions and a pledge to revisit the targets in two to four years. The latest negotiating draft released today reflects the level of discord. Temperature limits of 1 degree, 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees all remain options. Stalemate, Resignation “Unfortunately there’s nothing to report,” Jairam Ramesh , India’s environment minister, said today in an interview. “It’s been a day of complete stalemate.” Connie Hedegaard , chairwoman of the meeting, stepped down today, allowing Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen to take over. The Danes said they would offer a new proposal for a Copenhagen agreement. Any accord is likely to come in the form of a consensus by the negotiating parties, something in between a legally binding treaty and a political agreement, said Ruben Kraiem , co-chair of the climate practice for attorneys Covington & Burling LLP in New York. “It’ll be a consensus political agreement,” Kraiem said in an interview in Copenhagen. “It’s not just a handshake and it’s also not a treaty. It’s a decision by a corporate body.” To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Efstathiou Jr . in Copenhagen at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net .

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Prospects Fade for Global Warming Pact in Copenhagen

December 16, 2009

By Alex Morales and Jeremy van Loon Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) — World leaders will arrive in the Danish capital of Copenhagen over the next three days to agree on a pact to fight global warming. There may be nothing to sign. Envoys from China, the U.S., the European Union and India, the world’s top polluters, have bickered, quarreled and walked out during talks among 193 nations. They’ve left presidents and prime ministers a choice between a fudge or a flop for the accord that the United Nations framed as the most comprehensive deal to curb global warming. “Countries and blocks of countries have come here with very hard positions,” Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo said yesterday in an interview in Copenhagen. “You need some seismic shifts to really close a deal.” Connie Hedegaard , chairwoman of the meeting, stepped down today, allowing Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen to take over. She called the move “appropriate” with so many heads of state arriving. Officials had just announced efforts had failed to amend the 1997 Kyoto Protocol climate accord. The angst in conference rooms has been reflected on the streets, with protesters fighting riot police as Denmark mounted the biggest security operation in its history. More than half of Denmark’s 10,500 police are providing security for the talks at Copenhagen’s Bella Center, which can hold 15,000 people. The difficulty for the police is 46,000 people have tried to get into the talks in the city dubbed ‘Hopenhagen,’ leaving thousands waiting outside in freezing temperatures and yelling at security. Dubbed ‘Constipagen’ “We’re calling it Constipagen because the line’s not moving and the talks are not moving,” said Jasmine Hyman, who works for the Geneva-based Gold standard Foundation that certifies carbon offsets. She said it took her eight hours to get in. Speakers yesterday included Prince Charles , the heir to the U.K. throne, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore , who’s won an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to publicize the issue of global warming, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger . U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrived late Tuesday, while Obama will arrive later in the week. Developing nations accused industrialized countries of trying to kill off the Kyoto Protocol, the current emissions- limiting treaty. Developed nations, including the U.S. and Japan, want to replace Kyoto with another treaty. “The biggest obstacle to progress is that first it has to be clear that the Kyoto Protocol can’t disappear,” Mexican Environment Minister Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada said in an interview in Copenhagen. Disputes The U.S., the largest industrialized emitter, never ratified the Kyoto pact, which sets no binding emission targets for developing nations, such as India and China. The disputes in Copenhagen stem from the division of the UN talks into two tracks: one to extend Kyoto’s binding emissions targets beyond 2012 for all developed nations bar the U.S., and another to establish what the world’s biggest economy and developing nations will do to cut their emissions. The 27-nation European Union, which is bound by Kyoto, has called for the two negotiating tracks to be merged in favor of a single legally-binding treaty, a call rejected by poorer nations. Other developed nations support a single deal. Japanese View “The fundamental position of our government is that we are seeking a bigger comprehensive agreement than the Kyoto Protocol,” said Makio Miyakawa , Japan’s deputy director for global affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a Dec. 14 interview. “But the developing countries are still sticking to the Kyoto Protocol. And their position is very firm.” Other issues dividing delegates include the size of emission reductions by developed nations, verifying emission reductions by developing countries and climate aid worth $100 billion a year from rich to poor nations. The U.S. has rejected the demands of developing nations and most developed countries that it cut emissions more than its current goal of 17 percent from 2005 levels. China and India don’t want their national commitments to become legally binding in an international treaty. Japan, the EU and other developed nations still haven’t come forward to say how much money they’re prepared to fork out past 2012 to help poorer nations adapt to the consequences of climate change and lower their emissions. “This remains a very, very difficult process, and it could still fail,” said U.K. Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband . “It was always going to be the case that the most difficult bits would get left to the end. I hope ministers can sort them out. Some of them may be left to leaders.” To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Copenhagen via jvanloon@bloomberg.net ; Alex Morales in Copenhagen via amorales2@bloomberg.net .

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UN Climate Envoys Clash Over Funding for Poor Nations

December 15, 2009

By Alex Morales and Jim Efstathiou Jr. Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — United Nations negotiators failed to agree on financial aid that industrialized nations such as the U.S. and Japan will give to the developing world for coping with climate change, threatening a global-warming accord. With China and India seeking about $200 billion a year for developing states, envoys are bargaining over options for aid beginning after 2012, each without financial commitments, according to a draft agreement released today. The talks among 192 countries end Dec. 18, and developing nations say they’ll reject an accord to curb global warming that has no money. “This is eyewash — it’s a paper tiger,” Quamrul Chowdhury , a Bangladeshi envoy who coordinates the group of Least Developed Countries on finance issues, said in an interview. “There is nothing in terms of long-term finance.” Conflicts have deepened as the two-week summit progresses, with more than 110 world leaders due to arrive over the next three days. Delegates from developing nations caused several hours’ delay yesterday after walking out of discussions, citing an attempt by richer countries to kill off the existing global warming treaty, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol . U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao , are due to arrive in the Danish capital on Dec. 16 to 18 to help seal an agreement to rein in emissions. U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is due to arrive two days ahead of schedule, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez are scheduled to attend. ‘In Positioning Mode’ “The real discussions begin in the next two or three days,” Andrew Deutz , director of international government relations at the Nature Conservancy, an environmental advocacy group in Arlington, Virginia, said today in an interview. “The signals that negotiators are sending here are still very much in the positioning mode for when the bosses come in.” China and India have both said developed countries should contribute at least an annual 0.5 percent of their economic output to developing nations to help them lower emissions and adapt to the effects of global warming, such as more severe droughts and higher sea levels. That amounts to about $200 billion a year at current levels. China criticized the most industrialized countries today and said they are threatening the success of the negotiations. Rich countries “have put forward a plethora of unreasonable requests to developing countries,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters today in Beijing. “We believe this has a negative impact on the negotiations and will hamper the Copenhagen conference from achieving positive results.” $100 Billion Aid UN climate chief Yvo de Boer has said $100 billion to $300 billion a year in climate aid is needed. Developing countries including China and India will need as much as 100 billion euros ($145 billion) a year in climate aid from 2010 to 2020, New York-based McKinsey & Co. said in a September report. That’s to help them adapt to the effects of global warming and develop clean technologies to limit their own emissions. Two years of talks have repeatedly stalled amid clashes between rich and poor countries over aid, emission-reduction targets in developed countries and commitments to be made by industrialized nations to lower their own greenhouse gases. Deforestation Target The toughest issues at the talks in Copenhagen have been handed from country negotiators up to ministers, said Elliot Diringer , who oversees international strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, in Arlington, Virginia. Those include whether the agreement should aim to keep the global temperature increase from pre-industrial times to within 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius, and climate aid, he said. Another issue being debated in Copenhagen is how the funds will be managed. Developing countries are pressing for the UN to have oversight of the funding rather than international institutions such as the World Bank and its Global Environment Facility agency, which they say doesn’t favor them. Draft portions of text seen by Bloomberg show that envoys are debating delaying decisions on how climate funds will be named, how they will operate, and how the UN will work with the Global Environment Facility until the next UN climate meeting in Mexico at the end of 2010. “We don’t even have the name, the function or anything: we have nothing,” Bangladesh’s Chowdhury said. “This is not a tolerant outcome.” The new negotiating text also includes a target to cut the rate of deforestation in developing nations 50 percent by 2020. Microsoft, Dow Chemical “I’ve been doing forest issues in UN process for 15 years,” said Deutz, “We’ve never gotten agreement on a global target.” More than two dozen U.S. companies including Dow Chemical Co., and Microsoft Corp., today urged Obama to deliver a climate agreement that includes “significant” reduction targets and “substantial” climate funding for developing countries. The companies signed a letter they delivered to Obama, according to Peyton Fleming , a spokesman for Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental activists. “We must put the United States on the path to significant emissions reductions, a stronger economy and a new position of leadership to stabilize our climate,” according to the letter. “The costs of inaction far outweigh the costs of actions.” To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in Copenhagen via amorales2@bloomberg.net ; Jim Efstathiou Jr . in Copenhagen at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net .

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Envoys Clash Over Climate Aid in Denmark Before Obama, Ahmadinejad Arrive

December 15, 2009

By Alex Morales and Jim Efstathiou Jr. Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — United Nations negotiators failed to agree on financial aid the U.S., Japan and industrialized nations will give to the developing world to cope with climate change, according to a draft document. The blueprint, released today in Copenhagen, outlines three options for long-term climate aid from developed to developing countries, none of which includes any financial commitments. Developing countries say aid is crucial to a global warming agreement that 192 nations aim to agree on by Dec. 18 at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen. “This is eyewash — it’s a paper tiger,” Quamrul Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi envoy who coordinates the group of Least Developed Countries on finance issues, said in an interview in Copenhagen. “There is nothing in terms of long- term finance.” The talks, which began two years ago, have repeatedly stalled amid clashes between rich and poor countries over emission-reduction targets in developed countries, commitment to be made by developing nations to lower their own greenhouse gases and aid to poorer states. The toughest issues at the talks in Copenhagen have been handed from country negotiators up to ministers, said Elliot Diringer , who oversees international strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, in Arlington, Virginia. Those include whether the agreement should aim to keep the global temperature increase from pre-industrial times to within 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius, and climate aid, he said. More than 110 world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao are due to arrive in Copenhagen Dec. 16 to 18 to help seal an agreement to rein in emissions of global warming gases. To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in Copenhagen via amorales2@bloomberg.net ; Jim Efstathiou Jr . in Copenhagen at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net .

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Envoys Clash Over Climate Aid in Denmark Before Obama, Ahmadinejad Arrive

December 15, 2009

By Alex Morales and Jim Efstathiou Jr. Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — United Nations negotiators failed to agree on financial aid the U.S., Japan and industrialized nations will give to the developing world to cope with climate change, according to a draft document. The blueprint, released today in Copenhagen, outlines three options for long-term climate aid from developed to developing countries, none of which includes any financial commitments. Developing countries say aid is crucial to a global warming agreement that 192 nations aim to agree on by Dec. 18 at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen. “This is eyewash — it’s a paper tiger,” Quamrul Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi envoy who coordinates the group of Least Developed Countries on finance issues, said in an interview in Copenhagen. “There is nothing in terms of long- term finance.” The talks, which began two years ago, have repeatedly stalled amid clashes between rich and poor countries over emission-reduction targets in developed countries, commitment to be made by developing nations to lower their own greenhouse gases and aid to poorer states. The toughest issues at the talks in Copenhagen have been handed from country negotiators up to ministers, said Elliot Diringer , who oversees international strategies at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, in Arlington, Virginia. Those include whether the agreement should aim to keep the global temperature increase from pre-industrial times to within 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius, and climate aid, he said. More than 110 world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao are due to arrive in Copenhagen Dec. 16 to 18 to help seal an agreement to rein in emissions of global warming gases. To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in Copenhagen via amorales2@bloomberg.net ; Jim Efstathiou Jr . in Copenhagen at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net .

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Video: Koch-Weser Says Carbon Markets Need Greater Certainty

December 14, 2009

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) — Deutsche Bank AG Vice Chairman Caio Koch-Weser talks with Bloomberg’s Ryan Chilcote about carbon markets and the international climate change negotiations underway in Copenhagen.

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Thousands march for tough action on climate in Copenhagen

December 13, 2009

Thousands march for tough action on climate in Copenhagen

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Obama Can Earn His Nobel Prize at Climate Talks, Environmental Groups Say

December 11, 2009

By Kim Chipman Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama had not even accepted his Nobel Prize in Oslo yesterday before environmental advocates began calling on him to earn it when he attends climate talks in Copenhagen next week. “Obama, in part, has been awarded the Nobel Prize with the expectation that he will deliver the kind of leadership necessary to get a climate treaty,” Greenpeace USA’s Damon Moglen said on Dec. 9, a day before Obama won the same prestigious award given to Al Gore two years ago for his work on climate change. “He won it, and now is the time to earn it.” The U.S. president, during his speech yesterday in Norway, warned about the dangers of climate change and called on countries to work together to confront the problem. Obama will attend the treaty negotiations in Copenhagen on Dec. 18, the last day of the meetings that started this week. He initially planned to make an appearance nine days earlier on Dec. 9. Many developing countries considered the earlier date a “thumb in the eye” to other leaders coming in the second week during the “high level” portion of the talks for a new global accord to control greenhouse-gas emissions, according to Kevin Conrad , Papua New Guinea’s special envoy for climate change. “I’m a lot more positive about a positive outcome since Obama changed his arrival date,” Conrad said in an interview yesterday. Yesterday in Oslo, at least one protester held a sign reading “Our Climate. Your Decision.” ‘Earn It’ In Copenhagen, where the United Nations is holding its 15th annual “conference of the parties,” or COP15, an international meeting on climate change, environmental groups handed out stickers reading “Obama: Win it in Oslo. Earn it at COP15.” The president’s new itinerary shows a “stepping up” of the level of seriousness in which the U.S. administration is taking the negotiations, said Jennifer Morgan , program director for climate and energy at the Washington-based World Resources Institute. “He now will be here during the time when the final decisions will be made,” she said, adding that Obama can’t merely just show up. “It’s clear he has to come to Copenhagen ready to negotiate,” Morgan said. “Heads of state do in the end negotiate when there are outstanding issues.” The Obama administration is drawing criticism at the Copenhagen gathering of 192 countries over issues including an offer to cut its heat-trapping pollution from power plants, factories and other sources about 17 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels. Chinese Criticism The U.S. goal can’t be regarded as “a remarkable or notable figure,” Chinese envoy Su Wei said Dec. 8 in Copenhagen. China, the world’s biggest greenhouse-gas emitter, has said the rich industrialized countries most responsible for the heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere should cut emissions 40 percent by 2020. Obama’s negotiators are hindered in Copenhagen by a lack of U.S. laws that would require a national cap on greenhouse gases. Inaction in the Senate, the only U.S. body authorized to ratify treaties, leaves U.S. officials without firm guidelines about how to proceed. Todd Stern , the lead U.S. climate negotiator, said Dec. 9 that he’s hopeful lawmakers will pass a bill enabling the U.S. to boost its emissions-reduction goal. “God willing, in the spring” the U.S. will be able to report to the UN “that our target is even higher,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Chipman in Copenhagen at KChipman@bloomberg.net .

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Video: Lomborg Sees Repeat of `Failed Strategy’ at Copenhagen

December 11, 2009

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — Bjoern Lomborg, director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and author of the best-selling book “The Skeptical Environmentalist,” talks about international climate change negotiations. Lomborg speaks with Bloomberg’s Ryan Chilcote in Copenhagen, where the United Nations talks are taking place. (Source: Bloomberg)

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Decade Set to Be Warmest on Record, 2009 Won’t Be Hottest Year, WMO Says

December 8, 2009

By Alex Morales Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) — This decade is set to be the warmest on record though 2009 won’t be the hottest year, meteorologists said today, lending fuel to both skeptics and supporters of a global warming agreement being negotiated in Copenhagen. Data from the U.K. Met Office and the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization show this year will be the fifth- warmest, with 1998 holding the record. The global average temperature in 2009 was 0.44 degrees Celsius above the 1961 through 1990 average temperature of 14 degrees (57 degrees Fahrenheit), the WMO said today in the Danish capital. “This tells us that global warming is still rising,” Vicky Pope , head of climate change advice at the Met Office, said in a telephone interview in Copenhagen, where two weeks of United Nations talks began yesterday to draft a climate deal. “Greenhouse gases continue to increase, and it’s clearly important we reach an agreement in Copenhagen to reduce them.” Delegates in Copenhagen aim to reach an agreement to reduce output of the greenhouse gases that the UN in 2007 said was “very likely” the main cause of “unequivocal” global warming. The warmest year in the Met Office series, one of three used by the UN, is 1998. Critics of climate forecasting have seized on the fact that the warmest year occurred 11 years ago, saying that natural factors such as volcanic ash, changing ocean currents and the variable intensity of sun rays are more significant factors that heat-trapping emissions from power plants and factories. The failure of temperatures to rise above 1998 levels while emissions of carbon dioxide have gone up is an indication the gas is just “one factor out of hundreds” that determine the Earth’s temperature, according to former U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee staff member Marc Morano . ‘Natural Variability’ “You can’t distinguish rising CO2 from natural variability,” Morano said in a telephone interview from Washington. “To sit there and say that CO2 is the sole driving factor as Al Gore and many others have tried to do is no longer scientifically tenable.” The warmest year remains 1998, according to the data series. That’s because that year had a strong El Nino, a periodic warming of equatorial waters in the eastern Pacific that affects the world climate, Pope said. Nine years from the past decade follow 1998 on the list, and the Met Office said it expected temperatures to keep rising as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. “We would expect roughly half the years from 2010 to 2020 to be warmer than 1998,” said Pope. She said given the current rising emissions trend, “it’s very challenging to constrain temperature rises to 2 degrees Celsius,” a key goal for the 27- nation European Union and other major emitters including the U.S., China and India. To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net .

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Carbon Dioxide Declared Hazard by U.S. EPA, Paving Way for Tighter Rules

December 7, 2009

By Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Kim Chipman Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will declare carbon dioxide a health hazard today, paving the way for limits on emissions from sources such as power plants and factories, people familiar with the matter said. The move, on the opening day of an international climate summit in Copenhagen, arms President Barack Obama with new regulatory powers that could help forge consensus in efforts to curb global warming. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson “will make a significant climate announcement” today, the agency said in a statement. The people requested not to be identified discussing the announcement in advance. Unleashing the EPA to set emissions rules will give Obama standing when asking other nations to make commitments for a new global climate treaty, said Kevin Book , a Washington-based managing director for analysis firm ClearView Energy Partners LLC. Obama now plans to visit Copenhagen at the close of the talks on Dec. 18, when other world leaders will be there, rather than this week. “It’s exactly what you would want to have in your bag on the way to Copenhagen,” Book said in an interview today. “You can’t go and argue for other nations to make changes if you haven’t made any yourself.” Autos, Factories The EPA rules will govern heat-trapping pollution that many scientists say may lead to disruptive and irreversible climate shifts. The Washington-based America Petroleum Institute , which represents oil companies, said today the EPA rules will be “inefficient and excessively costly.” The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, also based in Washington, said the proposed new rules are based on “selective science.” “The implications of today’s action by EPA are far- reaching, Charles Drevna , president of the refiners group, said in a statement. “This is yet another example of federal policy makers failing to consider the long-term consequences of a regulatory action.” The first regulations under a finding that carbon dioxide is dangerous will be made final on March 10, and will cover emissions from cars and trucks beginning with model year 2012, said David Doniger , policy director for the climate center of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group based in New York. Automakers signed on to that plan, announced in May. After that, the EPA is expected to begin writing emissions rules for factories, power plants and other stationary pollution sources, Doniger said. The agency has said it would regulate only facilities that produce 25,000 tons of CO2 a year or more. Best Technology The rules are expected to require polluters to use the best available technology to limit emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, Doniger said. The agency can take months or years to complete regulations. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced on Dec. 4 that Obama will show up for the conclusion of the talks in Copenhagen, when about 100 heads of government are going, and help guide decisions. Earlier Obama had planned to stop by on Dec. 9. “There is progress toward a meaningful Copenhagen accord,” Gibbs said. The U.S., the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is in the spotlight at the talks in part because lawmakers haven’t approved legislation to set a mandatory limit on carbon-dioxide gas that many scientists say could lead to dangerous climate shifts if left unchecked. “To have this come out now is another concrete sign that the Obama administration is joining the fight on global warming,” Doniger said of EPA rules. Chamber of Commerce The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s biggest business-lobbying group, says EPA regulation of carbon would be “burdensome” to businesses and hurt the economy. Chamber President Tom Donohue has said the Washington-based agency, whose top administrator is chosen by the White House, was basing its proposed finding on “shaky, cherry-picked data.” The U.S. House passed legislation in June to cap carbon emissions and set up a market for the trading of pollution allowances. The Senate has yet to act. Lack of guidance from the Senate, the only U.S. body authorized to ratify treaties, left Obama’s negotiators in Denmark without firm guidelines on how to proceed. The administration’s use of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases under existing law provides a “primary catalyst” for Congress to act, Book said. “The administration’s climate strategy has resembled a coordinated “good cop, bad cop’ routine where Hill Democratic Party leaders (the ‘good cop’) offer new law as a way to prevent EPA’s ‘bad cop’ from imposing economy-wide regulations on lawmakers’ constituents,” Book said in a research note. EPA officials didn’t return calls seeking comment. To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in Copenhagen at kchipman@bloomberg.net ; Jim Efstathiou Jr . in New York at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net .

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Pachauri Defends UN Climate Science as E-Mail Leak Raises Accuracy Concern

December 7, 2009

By Alex Morales and Kim Chipman Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Rajendra Pachauri , the top United Nations climate-change scientist, said the panel he heads is “transparent and objective,” dismissing allegations by global- warming skeptics that UN data were manipulated. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded in 2007 that global warming is “unequivocal” and rising human greenhouse-gas emissions were “very likely” the main cause. E-mails stolen from computer servers of the University of East Anglia in England and posted worldwide on blogs show climate researchers discussed keeping some scientific papers out of the IPCC’s report, which has formed the basis for two years of UN-led climate-treaty talks among 192 nations. The university has said the e-mails were taken out of context and that allegations about manipulation are unfounded. Speaking today during the opening session of the global summit in Copenhagen that aims to devise a deal to fight climate change, Pachauri said he had confidence in his panel’s work. The IPCC’s report is “based on measurements made by many independent institutions worldwide that demonstrate significant changes on land, in the atmosphere, the oceans and in the ice- covered areas of the earth,” he said. The study was subject to “extensive and repeated review by experts as well as governments,” with 2,500 expert reviewers, Pachauri said. Skeptics of man’s contribution to global warming, including former Senate Environment and Public Works Committee staff member Marc Morano , have cited the e-mails as evidence of a conspiracy to manipulate findings about climate change. U.S. Senator James Inhofe , a Republican from Oklahoma, has called for hearings to determine if taxpayer-funded research was altered. In one of the e-mails, Phil Jones , professor of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, talks about working to keep some scientific papers out of consideration for inclusion in the IPCC report, “even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is.” Jones has since stepped down from his role pending the outcome of an investigation. “The internal consistency from the multiple lines of evidence strongly supports the work of the scientific community, including those individuals singled out in these e-mail exchanges,” Pachauri, 69, said. The IPCC assessment process “is designed to ensure consideration of all relevant scientific information from established journals with robust peer-review processes,” Pachauri said. “There is full opportunity for experts in the field to draw attention to any piece of published literature.” To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in Copenhagen via amorales2@bloomberg.net Kim Chipman in Copenhagen at KChipman@bloomberg.net

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Video: Emanuel Says Climate Summit Success to Hinge on Money

December 7, 2009

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — James Emanuel, commercial director at CantorC02e, talks with Bloomberg’s Mark Barton about international climate-change negotiations now underway in Copenhagen. Emmanuel speaks in London. (Source: Bloomberg)

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De Boer Asks Obama for `Ambitious’ Copenhagen Goal on Eve of Climate Talks

December 6, 2009

By Kim Chipman Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) — U.S. President Barack Obama should come to climate talks in Denmark with “strong” goals for cutting greenhouse gases and helping poor countries deal with global warming, United Nations climate chief Yvo de Boer said. “I hope that as part of the negotiating process he comes with an ambitious American target” to cut greenhouse-gas pollution and “‘strong financial support to reach out to developing countries,” de Boer told reporters in Copenhagen today on the eve of the two-week negotiations. Obama, facing pressure to assure other countries that the U.S. is moving toward a low-emissions economy, will attend the meeting on Dec. 18 along with about 100 other heads of state. The U.S. president had planned to arrive in Copenhagen on Dec. 9 during the first week of negotiations. De Boer said the change in schedule is welcome. “I’m happy that he’s coming toward the end of the conference together with other heads of state and government,” said de Boer, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “It’s especially important for him to hear the concerns of small island developing nations, the countries that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.” Obama expects a “meaningful” agreement in Copenhagen, where almost 200 countries are gathering in an attempt to hammer out terms for a new international treaty to control climate change, the U.S. administration said in a statement last week. To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Chipman in Copenhagen at KChipman@bloomberg.net

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Clean Power Defies Copenhagen Failure as Investment May Top $200 Billion

December 3, 2009

By Jim Efstathiou Jr. Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) — Renewable-energy investment may climb to a record $200 billion worldwide next year as companies from Hong Kong’s CLP Holdings Ltd . to American Electric Power Co. start projects that don’t depend on a new climate-change treaty. Private and public spending on technology such as solar panels and wind turbines will rise about 50 percent from $130 billion this year and top the previous high of $155 billion in 2008, according to Michael Liebreich , chairman of London-based New Energy Finance, a consulting firm whose data is used by the United Nations and Deutsche Bank AG . World leaders who meet in Copenhagen starting next week have said they’ll miss their goal of completing a treaty to limit carbon-dioxide emissions and foster clean-energy production. Companies and investment funds are increasing spending anyway in anticipation of an eventual accord and in response to government funding, regulations and public support. “Most of us are moving in that direction and it really isn’t dependent on Copenhagen,” Michael Morris , chief executive officer of American Electric, the biggest U.S. producer of electricity from coal, said in an interview. Government spending on green energy will more than double from this year to about $60 billion in 2010, Liebreich said. The U.S., China and 10 other nations have approved a total of $177 billion in stimulus funding for green energy over several years, he said. ‘Renaissance Time’ “It’s been a convergence of a number of drivers that are creating what we consider to be the renaissance time in the clean-tech sector,” said Ira Ehrenpreis , general partner with Technology Partners , a Palo Alto, California-based clean energy investment fund with about $700 million under management. “A clean-tech company has the world as its customer base.” CLP, Hong Kong’s biggest electricity supplier, is aiming to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by about 75 percent by 2050. The company is building a $903 million offshore wind farm. “Regardless of the outcome at Copenhagen, we’re moving ahead to meet our intermediate target of having 20 percent of our generating capacity coming from non-carbon emitting sources by 2020,” CLP’s CEO Andrew Brandler said in an e-mail. Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric said this year it will buy 2,000 megawatts of wind power by the end of 2011, double its original goal, to meet state renewable-energy requirements and company targets, according to Bruce Braine , a vice president with the utility. One megawatt is enough to power about 800 U.S. homes. Paying a Premium “You’re paying a premium relative to alternatives like coal or gas, but once you get them in place, particularly for wind or solar, the nice thing is that the energy is almost free,” Braine said. European and U.K. requirements are shaping decisions by London-based National Grid Plc , manager of Britain’s power- transmission network, according to Nick Winser , the company’s executive director for transmission. “That work will go on, whatever happens in Copenhagen, but all of that worthy leadership that has been shown on this topic sooner or later has to be underpinned by global targets,” Winser said. About 190 nations will meet in Copenhagen from Dec. 7 to 18 to set a framework for a treaty to curb emissions of global- warming gases. Completion of an accord at the meeting is out of reach, U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders said at a conference in Singapore last month. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the sessions may lead to a completed treaty next year. Regulation Flurry “Country by country, state by state, regulations will continue to spur demand independent of what might happen in Copenhagen,” said Joe Muscat, director of clean technology at New York-based Ernst & Young LLP. Worldwide, 250 climate-change regulations were enacted from July 2008 to February, including 54 in the U.S. and 25 in China, Ernst & Young said in a Nov. 17 report . More than 30 U.S. states require utilities to include renewable energy in their power portfolios. Government policies alone won’t stimulate enough investment to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, such as higher sea levels and more severe droughts, the International Energy Agency said in a November report. Additional spending must reach $430 billion a year by 2020 to reach a 50 percent chance of keeping the increase in global temperatures within 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) of pre-industrial times, the Paris- based agency said. NRG’s Wind Power Completion of a treaty would boost spending because companies and investors would gain certainty about penalties on polluting and incentives for alternative energy, said Christian Kjaer , CEO of the Brussels-based European Wind Energy Association. “You’re already seeing a shift, and with an international agreement that change in investors’ behavior will come faster,” Kjaer said. NRG Energy Inc ., the second-largest power producer in Texas, plans to spend $2 billion on renewable power over the next six years, according to CEO David Crane . Princeton, N.J.- based NRG, which has invested $400 million on wind power in Texas, will take advantage of government spending, he said. “The stimulus is just an enormous boost,” Crane said. Technology is lowering the cost of solar cells and wind turbines, said Jeffrey McDermott , the former co-head of investment banking at UBS AG who in 2008 started Greentech Capital Advisors LLC to advise and raise money for alternative- energy companies. A treaty “would certainly be helpful, but it is not going to stop capital from being put to work,” McDermott, managing partner of New York-based Greentech said. “Technological progress and the ability to scale and lower costs are surprising everybody in the industry.” China Tops U.S. Clean-energy development isn’t flowing to all countries equally, according to an October report from Deutsche Bank. Investment risks are lower in countries such as China and France that offer stronger incentives. Investors spent $16.7 billion on clean energy in China in 2008, excluding stimulus funds, topping the U.S. total of $15.2 billion for the first time, said Jesse Jenkins, director of energy and climate policy at the Breakthrough Institute , an Oakland, California-based consulting firm. Wind-energy producers in China get a premium for the electricity they supply to help make it competitive with cheaper power from burning coal or natural gas, he said. U.S. companies are falling behind in clean technology because the country lacks a binding limit on carbon emissions, as would be required under a global treaty, said Ralph Izzo , CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc ., the owner of New Jersey’s largest utility. “We are in conversations about a range of carbon-friendly technologies,” Izzo said. “And the suppliers we talk to are from China, Japan and France.” To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Efstathiou Jr . in New York at jefstathiou@bloomberg.net .

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Copenhagen Lures CEOs From Coca-Cola to Shell Seeking Clarity on Climate

December 2, 2009

By Kim Chipman and Alex Morales Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) — Deutsche Bank AG Vice Chairman Caio Koch-Weser says he will attend global climate talks in Copenhagen to push for clarity in how the world reduces greenhouse-gas emissions. “Transparency, longevity and certainty” are what the clients of Germany’s biggest bank want most in a United Nations accord, Koch-Weser said in an interview. “A strong deal is essential to create the rules, price signals and risk-return incentives that business needs.” The almost 200 countries that will meet starting Dec. 7 won’t be able to complete an agreement, the initial target for the Copenhagen gathering, UN officials have said. Every year of delay adds $500 billion to the minimum of $10 trillion in energy-industry investments needed over the next 20 years to move to a low-emissions world, according to the International Energy Agency based in Paris. The event will draw a record number of corporate executives for a climate gathering, said Carlos Busquets of the International Chamber of Commerce. As many as 30 chief executive officers are scheduled to attend, including Coca-Cola Co. ’s Muhtar Kent , Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Peter Voser , Duke Energy Corp. ’s James Rogers and China Power International’s Li Xiaolin . “The level of interest among businesses is absolutely huge,” said Busquets, policy manager for the Paris-based International Chamber’s environmental and energy commission and a liaison between industry and the UN. Obama, Wen While completing an accord is now out of reach, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said Nov. 16 the sessions will help produce a treaty next year. Koch-Weser of Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank said he’s optimistic that a “strong political agreement” can be reached in Copenhagen now that both the U.S. and China have put proposals on the table. President Barack Obama will make an appearance at the meeting on Dec. 9 and the U.S. will propose cutting emissions about 17 percent by 2020, administration officials said last week. China has pledged to reduce its carbon intensity, the emissions per unit of gross domestic product, as much as 45 percent by 2020 and said Premier Wen Jiabao will go to Copenhagen. While executives won’t participate directly in the formal talks in Copenhagen, a series of events will be open to them, including a “business day” Dec. 11 hosted by the Geneva-based World Business Council for Sustainable Development . That session will feature a discussion among CEOs from companies including Coca-Cola, Duke Energy and China Power. Cap and Trade Shell’s Voser said he will be following the talks closely for signals about how new rules would affect business for Europe’s biggest oil company. “What we would like to have is a framework which allows us to start to invest in some of the technologies and projects in the longer term,” Voser said in an interview. Voser is among business leaders pushing for a global “cap- and-trade” system, which would limit emissions from power plants and other sources and let companies buy and sell the right to pollute. A worldwide version of the emissions-trading program already operating in Europe could constitute a market of more than $3 trillion by 2020, according to estimates by Point Carbon, an Oslo-based environmental analysis company. “The framework conditions that will be decided upon in Copenhagen will be extremely important for the industry,” said Ola Morten Aanestad , spokesman for Statoil ASA , Norway’s biggest oil and gas producer. The company will send its CEO, Helge Lund , to the talks. ‘Making Progress’ U.S. executives going to Copenhagen will help get out Obama’s message that the country is moving toward a low-carbon economy, according to White House officials. Legislation to cap greenhouse-gas emissions has stalled in the U.S. Senate after passing the House, limiting the administration’s ability to make firm commitments at the talks. “Some people are going to attempt to criticize the U.S. for no progress,” Rogers of Duke Energy said in an interview. “That’s why it’s so important for U.S. businesses to be there telling the story that we are making progress.” Even without U.S. legislation limiting carbon-dioxide pollution, companies are making decisions “as if carbon will be regulated in the future,” Rogers said. Kent, Coca-Cola’s CEO, will go to Copenhagen to “call for an effective deal on climate change,” Lisa Manley , the Atlanta- based company’s director of sustainability development, said. “We believe climate protection is good business.” To Be or Not to Be The soft-drink maker says on its Web site that it will reduce emissions from manufacturing in developed countries by 5 percent in 2015 from 2004 levels and improve the energy efficiency of more than 10 million coolers and vending machines by 40 to 50 percent by the end of 2010. Among U.S. companies that also back climate-change legislation and say they will send senior executives to the talks are General Electric Co. , the world’s second-largest producer of wind turbines; Dow Chemical Co. , the biggest U.S. chemical producer; and Cisco Systems Inc. , the world’s No. 1 maker of computer networking equipment. Representatives of the Washington-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest U.S. business-lobbying group, will be in Copenhagen too, and on the opposite side of some companies. The chamber is fighting against the bill passed by the House. The argument will be joined on Dec. 12, when business representatives take part in a discussion at Kronborg Castle in Helsingor, just outside Copenhagen. It’s better known as Elsinore, the setting for William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” The topic: “To Be, or Not to Be? New Leadership for a Sustainable Economy.” To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in Washington at Kchipman@bloomberg.net ; Alex Morales in London at Amorales2@bloomberg.net .

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Obama Will Attend UN Climate-Change Meeting in Copenhagen, Official Says

November 25, 2009

By Hans Nichols and Kim Chipman Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama will attend United Nations climate-change talks in Copenhagen next month amid international pressure for the U.S. to do more to reduce its record production of greenhouse gases. Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen has invited the heads of almost 200 countries to the Danish capital for the Dec. 7-18 meeting. Leaders planning to make an appearance also include German Chancellor Angela Merkel , U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama . The president will go to Copenhagen Dec. 9, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today. Obama will then travel to accept the Nobel Peace prize in Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 10. Obama, who campaigned on a pledge to tackle climate change aggressively, has been under pressure to attend the meeting amid criticism that the U.S., the biggest greenhouse-gas producer on a per-capita basis, is thwarting progress because of a lack of new national laws to limit heat-trapping pollution and create an emissions-trading market The U.S. Senate is unlikely to pass climate legislation before the Copenhagen meeting of at least 65 world leaders, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , a Nevada Democrat, has said lawmakers will try to focus on the issue “sometime in the spring.” Without a bill from the Senate, which must ratify treaties by a two-thirds majority, Obama’s negotiators are left without firm guidelines to center their discussions. Measure Passed House The House of Representatives passed a bill in June by a 219-212 vote. The Senate is working to complete a bipartisan blueprint of a measure before the Copenhagen meeting, Senator Joe Lieberman , a Connecticut independent, has said. Negotiators have worked for almost two years to devise new emissions-reduction targets for the 37 developed nations bound by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol treaty goals that expire in 2012. Leaders are also trying to agree on standards for the U.S., which never ratified Kyoto, and for developing nations such as China and India, which had no Kyoto commitments. Obama and other leaders have said that a binding accord for reducing greenhouse gases is unlikely to happen in Denmark. The UN had previously said the meeting would mark the deadline for completing a treaty. Instead, leaders are now calling for a “meaningful” political agreement as a framework for a final accord to replace Kyoto. Negotiations are expected to continue next year. To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Chipman in Washington at kchipman@bloomberg.net ; To contact the reporter on this story: Hans Nichols in Washington at hnichols2@bloomberg.net .

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France Telecom Will Pay TDC $2.25 Billion in Merger of Swiss Mobile Units

November 25, 2009

By Diana ben-Aaron Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) — France Telecom SA will merge its Orange Switzerland unit with TDC A/S’s Sunrise Communications SA division to expand in Switzerland and will pay 1.5 billion euros ($2.25 billion) for a majority stake. France Telecom , Europe’s third-largest phone company, will have a 75 percent holding, while TDC will have 25 percent, the Paris-based company said in a statement today. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter, TDC said in a separate statement. France Telecom bid unsuccessfully for Sunrise, Switzerland’s second largest wireless provider, in 2008. Sunrise has about 20 percent of the mobile phone market compared with 18 percent for France Telecom’s Orange brand and 62 percent for Bern-based Swisscom AG, the country’s largest operator. The divestment is “a natural last step” for TDC in narrowing its focus to the Nordic markets, it said in a statement. “This merger is a further proof of France Telecom’s lasting commitment and will offer us fabulous opportunities by creating the leading alternative operator in the Swiss telecom market,” said Thomas Sieber, chief executive officer of Orange Switzerland. He will be in charge of the new company. The merged unit would have had revenue of 2 billion euros last year, according to France Telecom. The combination will have about 38 percent of the mobile market in Switzerland and 13 percent of fixed broadband connections, it said. TDC will take an impairment charge of 4.3 billion kroner ($870 million) in the fourth quarter on the transaction, the Copenhagen-based operator said today in a statement. It may dispose of its stake through a share buyback or a sale to third parties. To contact the reporter on this story: Diana ben-Aaron in Helsinki at dbenaaron1@bloomberg.net

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APEC Leaders Conclude Climate Treaty Out of Reach for Copenhagen Summit

November 15, 2009

By Julianna Goldman and Daniel Ten Kate Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) — Asia-Pacific leaders conceded a binding global-warming accord at next month’s climate summit in Copenhagen is out of reach and aimed to strike a political deal that will push a more comprehensive deal down the road. U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders gathered for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore agreed on a two-step approach to negotiating a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol presented by Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen , who is leading the group overseeing the United Nations-sponsored climate talks. “Even if we may not hammer out the last dots of a legally binding instrument, I do believe a political binding agreement with specific commitment to mitigation and finance provides a strong basis for immediate action in the years to come,” Rasmussen said. Rasmussen flew overnight to Singapore to brief the group on the status of the talks. The APEC meeting is the last major gathering of world leaders before the start of the climate summit on Dec. 7. There was an “assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full, internationally legally binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts in 22 days,” Michael Froman , Obama’s deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, told reporters. They thought “it was important that Copenhagen be an important step forward.” Lowered Expectations The statements by members of a group that includes the world’s two largest emitters, the U.S. and China, scale back expectations for the Copenhagen meeting, where negotiators from nearly 200 countries set a deadline to devise a successor to the 1997 Kyoto treaty , which expires in 2012. Two years of talks have stalled as developing countries call on richer nations to cut output first. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said a political agreement on climate change can give impetus to further negotiations, his chief aide, Arkady Dvorkovich , told reporters. “The heads of state said they are ready to strike a political agreement,” the aide said. Rasmussen proposed a new strategy to reach a binding agreement on reducing greenhouse gases. The outcome in Copenhagen should be a 5-8 page document with “precise language of a comprehensive political agreement,” he said. Negotiations to come up with a binding legal treaty would then continue. “We are not aiming to let anyone off the hook,” Rasmussen said. “We are trying to create a framework that will allow everybody to commit.’ Differences on Targets Climate negotiations have been hung up by disagreements between developed and emerging economies on binding emissions targets. UN officials have previously said a treaty was unlikely to emerge from the Copenhagen summit. Obama said that it was important not to make “the perfect the enemy of the good,” Froman said. The U.S. president said the best option for pursuing a global climate accord was to “see if we could reach the sort of accord that the Danish prime minister laid out that would have immediate operational impact” as a step in ongoing negotiations, Froman said. Rasmussen’s report to APEC leaders came at a breakfast meeting arranged in the last 36 hours. Climate change was among the main topics on the agenda for the APEC forum, whose member account for about half the world’s economy. The meeting was organized by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Mexican President Felipe Calderon . China’s Role China’s President Hu Jintao called climate change “a grave challenge to mankind” and pledged to work for “positive outcomes” in Copenhagen during a speech today to APEC leaders. China has pledged to cut emissions in proportion to economic growth, without giving specific goals or saying whether he would include it in a global agreement. The world’s most populous nation is key to proposals for reducing global emissions. Without new international limits on greenhouse gases, annual discharges will surge 40 percent in the 2007-2030 period to 40.2 billion tons, with three-quarters of the increase coming from China, the Paris-based International Energy Agency has estimated. Industrialized nations want developing countries such as China and India to outline programs that will curb output of heat-trapping gases. The two fastest-growing major economies baulk at binding emission targets because their energy usage is projected to rise as more people are lifted out of poverty. In Tokyo on Nov. 13, Obama reaffirmed the U.S. is committed to reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and endorsed proposals to reduce global emissions by 50 percent that same year. APEC leaders discussed dropping the 50 percent reduction target from their final summit statement, a member of the Chinese delegation said in a telephone interview. Obama hasn’t decided whether he will attend the Copenhagen meeting, Froman said. Denmark last week sent letters inviting all 191 government leaders of the United Nations to attend the Dec. 7-18 summit. To contact the reporters on this story: Julianna Goldman in Singapore at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net ; Daniel Ten Kate in Singapore at dtenkate@bloomberg.net

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Copenhagen Summit Won’t Yield Agreement on Climate, APEC Leaders Are Told

November 14, 2009

By Julianna Goldman Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama and 18 other Asia-Pacific leaders were told this morning that climate talks in Copenhagen next month won’t produce a binding agreement on reducing greenhouse gases, a U.S. official said. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen , who is leading the group overseeing United Nations-sponsored climate talks, told the group at a breakfast meeting in Singapore that negotiations haven’t progressed far enough to expect an accord by the time the summit convenes, Michael Froman , Obama’s deputy national security adviser, told reporters after the session. Rasmussen laid out a two-step process for going forward that would have the 191 nations sign on to a politically binding accord that covers “all the major elements of the negotiations including mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance,” Froman said. A second phase of negotiations would be conducted to work on a binding climate accord. Obama endorsed the plan and there was a consensus from the other leaders to proceed on that path, Froman said. Rasmussen’s report to leaders attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore came at a meeting arranged in the last 36 hours. Climate change was among the main topics on the agenda for the APEC summit, which includes the U.S. and China, the biggest emitters. Industrialized nations want developing countries such as China and India to outline programs that will curb output of heat-trapping gases. The two fastest-growing major economies baulk at binding emission targets because their energy usage is projected to rise as more people are lifted out of poverty. Obama hasn’t decided whether he will attend the Copenhagen meeting, Froman said. The summit is scheduled for Dec. 7-18. To contact the reporters on this story: Julianna Goldman in Singapore at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net ;

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Deforestation Loses Ground to Fossil Fuels as Carbon-Emissions Culprit

November 5, 2009

By Catherine Airlie Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — Deforestation’s relative contribution to global carbon emissions has declined as pollution from fossil fuels increased, according to a researcher at the faculty of earth and life sciences at VU University in Amsterdam. The removal of trees that can absorb carbon dioxide may now account for around 12 percent of global carbon emissions from human activities, according to a study led by Guido van der Werf and published in the academic journal Nature Geoscience. While forest destruction still causes “high emissions,” the “perspective has changed,” van der Werf said by telephone. “Carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion have increased substantially” the article in Nature Geoscience said. That makes “the relative contribution from deforestation and forest degradation even smaller.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated in 2007 that deforestation was responsible for 20 percent of greenhouse gas blamed for global warming. Almost 200 nations that will meet next month in Copenhagen have yet to agree on what role forests should play in a climate treaty intended to extend or replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Van der Werf’s study could potentially allay concerns about an oversupply of forest credits in carbon markets. The study reflected a lower deforestation rate than the Intergovernmental Panel due to more detailed satellite imagery showing tree coverage. His research also said that “notable” CO2 is released by the destruction of peatlands, areas of partially decaying vegetation that covers around 2 percent of the world’s surface. Peatland destruction is responsible for 3 percent of human induced CO2 emissions and should be included in Copenhagen negotiations, the report said. “Negotiations should strive to be as inclusive as possible,” Van der Werf said. Carbon dioxide produced by destroying both peatlands and forests may account for around 15 percent of total carbon emissions, the study concluded. To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Airlie in London at cairlie@bloomberg.net

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Robert Reich: Going To Copenhagen Empty-Handed

October 12, 2009

On Friday, Denmark’s climate and energy minister, Connie Hedegaard, who will be chairing U.N.-sponsored climate talks in December in Copenhagen, said President Obama needs to do more on climate. “It is hard to imagine that he will be receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Dec. 10 and then come empty-handed to Copenhagen a week later,” she said. But there’s no way between now and then that Obama can get a strong climate bill through Congress. Over the next months, the White House needs to focus on health care if it’s to have any hope of coming up with anything more than Big Pharma and the private insurance companies want. This is the cost of trying to do so much so quickly. Initiatives revert to powerful industry lobbyists because there’s no time to organize countervailing power. When he’s trying to do everything at once, the President can’t mobilize public opinion behind any one thing. Progressive voices (which have difficulty being heard even under the best of circumstances) drown each other out because they’re hollering over one another. Climate change legislation is moving forward — but big polluters have shaped much of it. As I noted recently, the Waxman-Markey climate bill, passed by the House last June, gives away 85 percent of pollution permits to the nation’s biggest polluters, and the “cap” it proposes on overall carbon emissions would cut greenhouse gas emissions only by an estimated 2 to 4 percent by 2020 compared to the UN reference year of 1990. The Kerry-Boxer bill has a stronger cap on emissions but it’s still far short of what’s necessary — and it leaves out the hardest part, which is the actual cap-and-trade mechanism. Why has so little been accomplished? Because coal, shale, oil, big manufacturers, and utilities — the big old polluters (BOPs) — have beaten back anything better. The only real countervailing powers on climate change are industries that stand to gain from stronger legislation — mostly nuclear and ethanol, along with a smattering of companies that have invested in wind, biomass, and solar. But they’re no match for the BOPs. Nor do their bottom lines necessarily match what’s good for the world. Yes, the Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward on its own efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, and the White House is quietly using the threat of the EPA doing more as a prod to get the BOPs on board with legislation that the White House says will be easier on them than what the EPA comes up with. But that’s no real threat. The BOPs know they can keep the EPA tied up in litigation for years. So here’s my suggestion. The White House should tell Congress it’s raising the bar on climate change but is simultaneously putting the current legislation on hold — until it can focus the public’s attention on it. That is, until after a worthy piece of healthcare legislation is on the President’s desk. Arriving in Copenhagen strongly committed to fight for a large reduction in greenhouse gases, even if that means empty hands at the time, is better than arriving there with a weak and ineffective law. Cross-posted from Robert Reich’s Blog

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Airlines To Propose Halving Emissions By 2050

September 22, 2009

The aviation industry’s plan is thought to be an attempt to head off criticism from environmental groups over increasing emissions at the Copenhagen meeting.

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Video: Obama To Copenhagen For IOC Vote?

September 21, 2009

White House to send a team in Copenhagen for President Obama’s IOC decision next month. (Bloomberg News)

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Video: Inside Look – How to Pay for Climate Change

September 4, 2009

Interview with Copenhagen Consensus Center Director Bjorn Lomborg (Bloomberg News)

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Ossur’s listing on NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen approved

September 3, 2009

Ossur’s listing on NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen approved

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