UNEP: World Anticipates Changes in US Climate Policy, Copenhagen
December 2008: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reports that, after a year where weather-related disasters resulted in approximately US$200 billion in damages, many are anticipating 2009 to be a year of progress in the fight against climate change. In particular, many are looking towards the new US administration to make big changes with regard to climate change policy.
Among the signals that change may occur have been the appointment
of key environmental officials who bring climate expertise, as well as
US President-elect Obama's pledge to spend over US$150 billion on
alternative energy over the next decade.
UNEP has also reported that
there are high expectations for the 15th Conference of the Parties to
the UNFCCC and Fifth Meeting of the Parties to its Kyoto Protocol,
which will convene 7-18 December 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark. There is
hope that industrialized countries will, at that time, commit to
legally-binding emission-reduction schemes and include, in some form,
the UN Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation