Energy Efficiency & Climate Change Law

The “Right Place, Wrong Time” signs were meant to encourage President Obama to attend the international negotiations (scheduled to be held in Copenhagen from December 7-18, 2009) regarding the successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire in 2012.  Thus, in order to have a new global agreement in place by the end of 2012, world leaders expect that they will need to reach agreement by 2009 so that there will be enough time for participating countries to ratify and implement the successor treaty (commonly referred to as the “Post-Kyoto” treaty).

Originally, the negotiations for a Post-Kyoto treaty in Copenhagen were intended to involve only government officials at the ministerial level.  For example, the highest-ranking official initially expected to represent the United States at the negotiations was Todd Stern, who was appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to serve as the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change.

However, when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced last month that he would attend the negotiations in Copenhagen, he called on fellow world leaders to join.  President Obama said in an interview this week that he would attend the climate talks in Copenhagen if three conditions were met:

(i) if the countries involved in the negotiations were bargaining in good faith;

(ii) if the parties were on the brink of a “meaningful agreement”; and

(iii) if his presence in Copenhagen will be a deal-breaker.

Given the political embarrassment resulting from President Obama’s failed trip to Copenhagen for the IOC meetings, and, more significantly, Republican gains in elections earlier this month that may signal trouble ahead for the Congressional healthcare and climate bills, the President’s cautious approach to attending the post-Kyoto negotiations in Copenhagen may be politically resonable.  However, President Obama’s expectation of serving only as a “clincher” of a Post-Kyoto treaty begs the question – is he aiming too low by not participating in a more meaningful way in Copenhagen?

Upon announcing that President Obama will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee applauded his diplomacy and his message that, “Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.”  President Obama will fall short of fulfilling his “share of responsibility for a global response” to climate change if he simply acts as a “clincher.”  With a deal in Copenhagen in doubt, the very diplomatic skills for which President Obama will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize will be required in order to get the negotiations to the point where a “clincher” is even possible. December 7-18, 2009 is the “right time” for President Obama to be in Copenhagen, especially because he will already be in the neighborhood when he accepts his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway on December 10th.