Outcomes of COP15’s Copenhagen Accord

January 2010 – Many consider the results of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark, to have fallen short of the world’s expectations. However, they could bear impact on global climate change strategies as well as energy efficiency policies and programs. Here is an overview of what energy efficiency advocates should know about the landmark negotiations.

Energy Efficiency and COP15

The outcomes of COP15 may have great implications not just for energy efficiency at the global scale, but for energy efficiency policy in the United States as well. Although Congress did not adopt comprehensive energy and climate legislation before the COP15 negotiations, the commitments made during the negotiations by nations such as China and India, coupled with the leadership shown by President Obama in crafting the final agreement, may spur U.S. legislators to resolve the climate debates stalled in the Senate.

Energy efficiency will play a crucial role in any policy or program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Including the cost of pollution in the price of energy will remove one of the largest barriers to the proper level of investment in energy efficiency. And because it is the quickest, cleanest and cheapest resource we have to avoid energy use and emissions, energy efficiency will reduce the cost of complying with emissions reduction targets.

That being said, energy efficiency was regrettably not high on the agenda at COP15. In fact, the Alliance was one of the few energy efficiency-focused organizations represented at the conference. Our forum, “From Paradox to Paradigm: The Role of Energy Efficiency in Creating Low Carbon Economies,” was unique in focusing on efficiency as one of the major pathways to a global climate change solution.

The Copenhagen Accord

It must be emphasized that the Copenhagen Accord, the final document signed on December 18, 2009, did not achieve several steps critical to defining a clear road-map for global climate change mitigation. It did, however, produce new and unprecedented commitments that will with hope lead to more defined targets and procedures from the international community in future COPs to come.

What Copenhagen Accord Does Not Do

• Establish a legally binding treaty
• Define global reduction targets, nor post-Kyoto targets for major emitters (the United States, China, India and Brazil), the latter of which some say is critical.
• Engage all parties: In a final-hour meeting led by President Obama, only 25 of the 193 states present were involved in drafting the final document.
  • Despite this exclusive process, the conference as a whole “took note” of the accord (the legal equivalent of accepting it), but with opposition from Sudan, Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, Costa Rica and the small island nation of Tuvalu.

These shortcomings may be reconciled at COP16 in Mexico City, December 2010.

What the Copenhagen Accord Does Do

• Calls for emission reductions from all: The accord requires both Annex I (developed) and Non-Annex I (developing) countries to submit national action plans for emissions reductions through 2020, due January 31, 2010. These actions plans must be consistent with goal of limiting global temperature increases to no more than 2°C.
  • This is the first time that developing countries, including some of the world’s greatest polluters, have agreed to demonstrate commitment (albeit non-binding) to emission reductions in an international agreement (the Kyoto Protocol called only on developed nations to reduce emission).
  • Small island states and least-developing nations may undertake actions voluntarily and on the basis of support.
• Encourages greater stringency than previous treaties: The accord calls for an assessment of its implementation by 2015, including the consideration of strengthening long-term reduction targets to result in temperature increases of 1.5° C or less. While critics of the accord worry that the reductions pledged by the world’s greatest emitters are not enough to reach the 2° C goal, this provision indicates that the key leaders recognize that more aggressive CO₂ reduction targets may be necessary in the future.
• Establishes requirements for measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of all emissions-mitigation actions, but requirements vary depending on the country and funding source.
  • For developing countries, mitigation actions funded domestically are subject to domestic MRV standards. Results must be reported every two years for international review, but with guidelines that “ensure that national sovereignty is respected.”
    • This is the result of a compromise between the United States and China. Since the UNFCCC’s beginning, China has opposed international MRV and transparency. This is the first time it has accepted international verification procedures.
  • Internationally funded reduction actions in developing countries are subject to international protocols.
  • All developed countries’ actions are subject to international protocols.
• Assistance to developing nations:
  • In the short term, provides $30B from 2010-2012 for assistance to developing countries for the purposes of mitigation, adaptation and forest conservation, to come from developed countries.
    • Distribution of adaptation funds is prioritized to the most vulnerable countries.
  • Provides a long-term commitment for $100B per year by 2020 from developed countries, through public and private sources and alternative financing mechanisms.
    • The United States is committed to contributing to these funds, but contributions will be contingent upon the transparency of developing nations’ reductions.
  • Establishes the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund as the operating entity of the financial mechanism that will support adaptation and mitigation programs in developing countries.
  • Establishes a Technology Mechanism to accelerate technology development and technology transfer from developed to developing countries.

Other results of COP15

• In lead-up to the negotiations, big polluters made commitments to reduce emissions and promote energy efficiency:
  • On November 17, 2009, the United States and China reached a bilateral agreement to expand cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment. As part of the agreement, Presidents Obama and Hu Jintao committed to:
    • make concerted efforts to curb climate change
    • observe the agreements reached at COP15
    • launch a joint U.S.-China Energy Research Center
    • launch a joint Electric Vehicles Initiative to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles
    • launch a joint U.S.-China Energy Efficiency Action Plan. Under this plan, the two countries will work together in improving the efficiency of buildings, industrial facilities, and consumer appliances, convening annually to share best practices in these topics.
  • Following the November 17 agreement, the United States, China and India announced the following reduction targets:
    • United States: “in the range” of a 17 percent reduction below 2005 carbon emission levels by 2020, rising to 83 percent in 2050
    • China: 40-45 percent reduction in carbon intensity (carbon output per unit GDP) from 2005 levels by 2020.
    • India: 25 percent reduction in carbon intensity from 2005 levels by 2020.
• U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced the launch of the United States’ Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative, or Climate REDI. The United States will contribute $85M to this global fund of $350M over five years to assist developing nations with adoption of clean-energy technology.