The COP15 talks have taken a time-out.

 

The G77, a coalition of 130 developing nations within the United Nations, has withdrawn from the talks over a dispute involving the Kyoto Protocol. The G77, made up mostly of poorer and developing nations like Afghanistan, India, Peru, Colombia, Vietnam and North Korea, want to keep the emissions targets hammered out in Kyoto, still currently the world's only legally binding emissions targets. The United States, EU, and other developed nations want to start over with a completely new agreement that would supersede Kyoto.

 

The G77 is afraid that a new agreement could allow richer nations to get out of their obligations established under Kyoto by agreeing to non-binding goals set in Copenhagen. Most of the G77 nations are exempt from the Kyoto protocols due to their developing status and low historic emissions.

 

Australia's Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said that conference organizers were working to bring the G77 back in and some expect things to resume later on this afternoon or tomorrow. The conference ends this Friday, so they don't have a lot of time to get this thing sorted out.

 

In semi-related news, my buddy (and fellow MNN blogger) Karl was in Copenhagen last week and had a video chat with Current's Leah Lamb about his time there. He's back stateside now, check it out.

 

 

It's interesting to note that the U.N. shut out bloggers; Karl didn't find out his credentials were pulled until he got to the press table.

 

You can read all the MNN coverage of things in Denmark at our Copenhagen Climate Talks page. 

 

Via [Huffington Post]