What needs to happen for the Copenhagen Climate Change summit to be a success?

With a little over one month to go before the UN summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has outlined a handful of benchmarks that will determine the success of this international gathering of the minds.

Ban, in an opinion piece in the New York Times, suggests that every country – developed and developing – must do all it can to slash emissions from all sources, including deforestation and shipping.

“A successful deal must strengthen the world’s ability to cope with an already changing climate,” Mr. Ban said, stressing that “support for adaptation is not only an ethical imperative; it is a smart investment in a more stable, secure world.”

According to Ban, proper funding to allow poorer countries to transition to a low-carbon economy is absolutely crucial, while all involved must agree on an equitable global governance structure.

“All countries must have a voice in how resources are deployed and managed,” he said. “That is how trust will be built.”

Progress in sight

Although the the last round of climate change negotiations held in Bangkok, Thailand, earlier this month, resulted in a sort of stalemate, Ban insists that “the elements of a deal are on the table.”

“All that is needed to put them in place is political will,” Ban said. “We need to step back from narrow national interest and engage in frank and constructive discussion in a spirit of global common cause.”

A final round of negotiations will kick off next week in Spain, as a precursor to the Copenhagen summit.

“We are now at a rather critical juncture,” said Janos Pasztor, Director of the Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team. “There is a flurry of activity in the world’s capitals, with this uptick in activity expected to continue during the final stretch before the December summit. This is a good development as it is only governments who can make the deal and bring us success in Copenhagen.”

United States at the heart of transition

When leaders assemble in Denmark, they have the ability to “deliver an agreement on a range of fast-track implementation measures for which credible resources are needed and which governments need to make available,” Mr. Pasztor stated.

According to Ban, the United States government, under the leadership of newly-President Barack Obama, is a crucial factor in the global climate change struggle. He did suggest, however, that he is encouraged by last week’s bipartisan climate change initiative in the US Senate.

“We cannot afford another period where the United States stands on the sidelines,” Ban said, adding that an “indecisive or insufficiently engaged” US will result in unnecessary and unaffordable delays in tackling global warming.

Ban is, of course, referring to the U.S.’s lackluster environmental performance under the Bush administration of the previous 8 years as well as its reluctance to enter into the Kyoto Protocol agreements.

Come 2012, the Kyoto Protocol to prevent climate change and global warming will expire, calling for the urgency for a new international agreement. This December’s conference in Copenhagen from December 7-18, 2009 will bring together government representatives from 170 countries, accompanied by other governmental representatives, NGO’s and journalists.

For more information on the Copenhagen Climate Conference, visit http://en.cop15.dk.