US Envoy Johnathan Pershing Opens Copenhagen Talks with US Commitment to 17% GHG Reduction Targets

Posted on December 7, 2009 by J. Randolph Evans

Expectations ramped up with the announcement by Jonathan Pershing, US Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change, that the United States would commit to specific Greenhouse Gas Emission targets (17%) in line with various climate change legislation pending before the United States Congress.

I sat in on the Plenary Session in which Pershing spoke.  The response of the packed room was skeptical with polite spattered applause.  The comments by the US negotiator were the most specific to date by any representative of the United States government.  Following these comments and several others, I visited with delegates and representatives from several countries around the world as well as from a coupe of states from the United States.  There is a genuine sense that negotiators have been given the boundaries for a Copenhagen Accord to be finalized when President Obama visits Copenhagen on December 18, 2009.  Several important parties to any successful accord, including India, made clear their reluctance to agree to enforceable defined limits.  With the outline of the Obama Administration's commitments, negotiators will now attempt to create an outline of an agreement that is broad enough to accomodate the concerns of many developing countries, while capitalizing on the specifics of the United States' committment.

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