Cancun Roundup: A Modest Deal's a Deal

"Negotiators from about 190 countries reached a modest set of agreements early Saturday in Cancun on how to tackle global warming but punted some of the most controversial questions for a later date.

A year after U.N.-led talks all but collapsed in Copenhagen, delegates from countries large and small signed off on a package of low-hanging fruit that includes establishing a program to keep tropical rainforests standing, sharing low-carbon energy technologies and preparing a $100 billion fund to help the world's most vulnerable cope with a changing climate.

'What we have now is a text that, while not perfect, is certainly a good basis for moving forward,' Todd Stern, the top U.S. climate official, said during the all-night bargaining session that culminated in approval of what's known as the Cancun Agreement.

Stern's reluctant endorsement was echoed over and over into the early morning hours as diplomats scarred by the chaos in Copenhagen accepted a deal that fails to ratchet down greenhouse gas emissions anywhere close to scientific recommendations."

Darren Samuelsohn reports for Politico December 11, 2010.
 
SEE ALSO:

"Climate Talks End With Modest Deal on Emissions" (New York Times)

"193 Nations Sign Climate-Change Package" (Washington Post)

"Cancun Reignites Climate Talks Flame" (AFP)

"UN Climate Meeting Oks Green Fund in New Accord" (AP)

"Cancun Climate Talks Send "Positive" Signals: Chinese Delegation" (Xinhua)

"Analysis: Climate Talks: 18 Years, Too Little Action?" (Reuters)

"SNAP ANALYSIS: Climate Talks Win Lifeline, But May Sink in 2012" (Reuters)

"Jairam Ramesh 'Built Bridges' in Cancun Climate Talks" (Press Trust of India)

"Building Blocks To Green Treaty" (CanWest)

"Labor To Push Carbon Agenda" (Australian)

"Climate Change Financing Will Benefit All, Un Chief Tells Cancún Meeting" (Accra Daily Mail)

"Cancun Climate Conference: What It All Means" (Telegraph)

"Cancun Climate Change Conference Agrees Plan To Cut Carbon Emissions" (Telegraph)

"Breakthrough Made in U.N. Climate Talks" (National Journal)

"5 Lessons from the U.N. Cancún Climate Summit" (Ecocentric/TIME)

"Climate Talks End With Modest Deal and Standing Ovation" (SolveClimate)

"Cancun Talks Make Modest Progress" (Jakarta Post)

"Final Results at the Cancun Climate Talks: Clear Progress on Climate Finance" (NRDC)

"UN Climate Talks End With Limited Agreements" (Voice of America)

"Cancun Climate Breakthrough: It’S Not Perfect, But It’s a Deal" (Grist)