Climate Text Furor Unwarranted

The early version of the proposed Copenhagen Agreement that produced such a furor among developing nations need not have done so. The draft text of the agreement, leaked to environmentalists and reporters on Tuesday, asks developing countries to commit to reducing emissions and to accept a reduced role in U.N. climate policy. The text produced a wave of global press coverage as poor nations and advocacy groups held press conferences decrying the draft provisions as elitist, non-transparent, and benefiting wealthy nations at the expense of poorer ones. But an unnamed insider told the Los Angeles Times that many developing nations, including China, India, Brazil, Algeria, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh actually helped draft the text and were aware of these provisions well before the summit began. One of the chief-challenges for wealthy nations at the Copenhagen summit is to persuade developing countries to accept emissions reduction targets in a formal way, and the "Danish Text," is an early attempt at compromise language.