Bangkok Climate Talks Come Up Empty

Posted on Oct 9, 2009

EPA / Barbara Walton

Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, emotes during the closing session of talks in Bangkok.

The path to meaningful climate change just got rockier, as climate talks in Bangkok ended with a sizable gap between rich and poor countries. Many fear Bangkok’s downfall will mean, at most, a weak agreement in Copenhagen, host of the climate conference heralded by many as an event that could “save” our environment.  —JCL

The Guardian:

Global climate change talks came to an end in Bangkok today in an atmosphere of distrust and recrimination, with the rift between rich and poor countries seemingly wider than ever. After two weeks of negotiations there have been no breakthroughs on big issues such as money or emissions cuts.

With just five days of negotiating time now left before the concluding talks in Copenhagen in December, delegates said it appeared a weak deal was the most likely outcome, and no deal at all was a possibility.

However, President Obama’s expected visit to Oslo to receive the Nobel peace prize in the middle of the climate talks raised hopes that he would make the short journey to Copenhagen to galvanise governments.

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