A Just Global Climate Deal in 2009

The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the world’s foremost agreement on climate change, expires in 2012. Following the Bali Action Plan, a global climate deal for the post-Kyoto period is currently under negotiation, and due to be agreed upon at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December this year. A global agreement will require polluters to assume responsibility for climate change and provide assistance for those worst affected and most in need. An unparalleled opportunity for the international community to tackle climate change, current negotiations demonstrate political support far short of even basic expectations, jeopardizing the possibility for a resolution to the climate crisis.