Few degrees of freedom

The climate change conference in Copenhagen last month went to the wire with no agreement emerging until late on the last day. Ahead of the meeting, President Obama was expected to make a significant financial commitment to a global climate protection fund rather than improve on his provisional offer of cutting emissions by 4 per cent on 990 levels by 2020. The final accord declared deep cuts in emissions are required but without specific details and backed a $ 00 billion plan to help poorer countries by 2020 but without saying where the money would come from. Ed Miliband, Britain’s energy and climate change secretary, endorsed the plan early in the last week and suggested it was the best outcome that could be expected, given the difficulties Obama faced in persuading Congress to accept climate control legislation. “Countries have to do what they are able to. I think we have to judge what everyone has to offer in the round. For developed countries, both the carbon reduction and the finance they provide is crucial,” Miliband said. However, the US proposal angered many at the meeting because it would allow the country, which is responsible for more of the carbon in the atmosphere than any other, to avoid the swift and painful transition to a low-carbon economy being proposed by the EU. There were growing fears that a deal might not be reached earlier in the last week. “It is possible we may not get an agreement,” Gordon Brown, the British prime minister said. “This is also true of many issues to be sorted out, but I am determined with the conversations I have had already today to do everything I can to bring the world together.” Brown held meetings with many leaders seeking support for his proposal for a $ 00 billion annual fund to help poor countries to convert to renewable energy and mitigate the effects of climate change. He proposed that the UN establish a working group to recommend possible sources of finance for the climate fund, including a global financial transaction tax and a tax on aviation and shipping. “We are at a critical moment,” he said. But no details were agreed. Before his arrival, Obama had come in for considerable criticism at the conference. Daryl Hannah, the actress and environmental campaigner, spoke on behalf of a coalition of green groups that the president was protecting corporate interests. “He was elected on a wave of hope for real change and this is a golden opportunity to show he