Prof Tim Flannery. Credit: scienceinmelbourne2007

By Rich Bowden:

Former Australian of the Year Prof Tim Flannery has praised a climate agreement reached by world leaders at Copenhagen and described Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s role in the key talks as “outstanding.”

In a online statement from the Danish capital, author, leading climate scientist and commentator Prof Flannery, speaking on behalf of the science community, said that he was “not entirely dissatisfied with the agreement,” though added that more needed to be done to limit global warming.

In contrast to the disappointment shown by NGO’s, much of the world’s media and in speech after speech by world leaders, Prof Flannery said the agreement, though not legally binding, was an important first step in negotiations.

“My overview would be in the absence of any shift in the American target we’re likely to be a few gigatonnes of carbon short of a satisfactory target for 2020,” he said.

“[It] doesn’t mean we won’t achieve it. The agreement as it looks at the moment is good, but not perfect.”

He added the importance of the agreement will become evident as more information is released but agreed a commitment to keeping temperature rises to 2 degrees Celsius was a breakthrough.

“I think that these sort of agreements in the details really only become more evident with time,” he said.

“Perhaps in the next few days we’ll get to see a little bit more of precisely what has been agreed, and what it means overall. [But] if I was to sum it up in a single phrase I’d say this has been a good, successful meeting.”

“It’s only one step on the road but we are now really in the throes of tackling this very difficult problem and this meeting has been a very significant step forward. I wouldn’t like anyone to undersell what’s been achieved. I think it is very significant.”

Prof Flannery also praised Prime Minister Rudd’s efforts to stitch together a deal at the Danish capital.

“Our prime minister has played an outstanding role. I was at a briefing he gave on Thursday. He was frank and honest … He said he was doing his best but there was absolutely no guarantee of success.

“He’s been working very hard the last few months,” he added.

Prof Flannery’s praise for the prime minister will come as a boost for Mr Rudd who has endured criticism of alleged attempts at “bullying” Pacific States into abandoning their quest to lock the conference into an agreement that would limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius instead of the agreed 2 degree limit. The Australian delegation has also been accused of misleading the conference by using land clearing to falsify its carbon emissions.

However there was confusion as to the extent of the declaration reached at Copenhagen. While the agreement

Pro-Tuvalu demonstration, Copenhagen. Credit: Greenpeace Finland

included the vital nations of the United States and China, prompting Xie Zhenhua, the head of China’s delegation, to express satisfaction with the deal: “After negotiations both sides have managed to preserve their bottom line. For the Chinese, this was our sovereignty and our national interest,” the question rose again of the ignoring of the poorer states’ needs.

Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, speaking on behalf of the G77-China group of nations, reacted angrily to the fact that “Gross violations have been committed today – against the poor, against traditions of transparency and participation on an equal footing by all nations, and against common sense,” he said in a statement.

Indeed according to the BBC’s Richard Black, who is reporting from COP15 many delegations hadn’t even seen the proposed agreement and one, Bolivia, had already described it as “anti-democratic, anti-transparent and unacceptable”.

Tags: australia emissions, China US climate agreement, COP15, copenhagen climate talks, Kevin Rudd, Pacific States, Tim Flannery