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Ed Miliband faces MPs over Copenhagen summit
5 Jan 2010Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband will today report back to MPs on the Copenhagen summit, which ended in chaotic scenes and finger-pointing as world leaders secured a weak accord on tackling global warming.
Mr Miliband, who was joined in the Danish capital by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a bid to reach a deal, will address the House of Commons which is sitting for the first time since the talks ended before Christmas.
The UK had led the way in calls for a framework a legally-binding deal to be laid out at the UN summit, which saw official negotiations stall and leaders stepping in to secure an accord which was short on substance.
Mr Miliband and Mr Brown have since accused a small number of countries including China of blocking progress to agreement and have demanded reform of the UN body governing climate change action.
The two weeks of talks in Copenhagen descended into chaos with repeated clashes between rich and poor countries and "procedural wrangling" which Mr Miliband claimed was aimed at blocking progress to an international, legally-binding deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
In the end, amid frantic scenes at the conference, leaders secured a deal to limit temperature rises to 2C but without specifying the global emissions cuts that would be needed to meet that target.
The accord also laid out plans for funding to the tune of 100 billion dollars (£620 million) a year by 2020 to help poor countries fight climate change, but gave no precise detail on where the money will come from.
Over the next month, countries are expected to submit their pledges for cutting emissions but the proposals already announced are not sufficient to meet the 2C target.
Nevertheless, Mr Miliband has said he believes Britain was right to sign up to the accord, claiming it delivered "real outcomes" on temperature rises and finance.
The Climate Change and Energy Secretary will also be joining the Prime Minister to outline details of a boiler scrappage scheme as part of efforts to help British householders cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
Under the scrappage scheme announced in the Pre-Budget Report last month, up to 125,000 homeowners could be given £400 to help them replace boilers.
Reader views (4)
I can guess what he's going to say,
"Sorry boys, we've been rumbled"
- Dave, london, 06/01/2010 11:22
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The whole idea of the summit was to satisfy Gordon Brown's ambition of being seen as a "world leader". Such conferences should be held by video link. Admittedly such means of communication would deny Gordon the photo opportunities he craves but there would be no emissions from the private jets they all use travelling the world claiming to be "saving the planet". Such hypocricy is indefensible.
- R.F.York, Yorks, UK, 06/01/2010 09:54
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Global Warming is ceratinly working we are now all freezing.Heating bills up,carbon into the atmosphere up and so on......
- Harvey Lawrence, London UK, 05/01/2010 17:40
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I've heard that his constituents in Doncaster are furious, as they didn't have anyone to deliver the newspapers for 2 weeks in December. Fortunately, he has now resumed his paper round duties.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, 05/01/2010 12:15
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