Clinton says US will join $100b-a-year climate deal

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

The announcement at the United Nations climate summit could be the trigger in clinching a deal among more than 190 countries to sign a global climate accord by tomorrow, when the conference is scheduled to end. Developing countries are adamant a deal must include billions of dollars to help them adjust to the consequences of a warmer world, which was caused by wealthier countries' greenhouse gas emissions during their industrial eras.

Clinton did not say what the contribution would be, but said the money would be in place by 2020. She made clear, however, that the money would be taken off the table unless China agreed to monitoring to ensure it is abiding by its pledge to slow the growth of emissions, as well as other conditions.

“There has to be a willingness to move toward transparency in whatever form we finally determine is appropriate,'' Clinton said. "So, if there is not even a commitment to pursue transparency, that’s kind of a deal-breaker for us."

Still, it was unclear if a deal was to be had, as weary negotiators continued to spar over many critical issues around financing. UN climate change chief Yvo de Boer injected a note of optimism at a morning press conference, evoking the image he has continually used  comparing reaching a climate deal to climbing a mountain. "Hold tight and mind the doors, the cable car is moving again," de Boer said.

Also today, US Representative Edward Markey arrived in Copenhagen to help push a deal forward. The Massachusetts lawmaker is co-author of climate legislation passed by the House. He was accompanied by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other congressmen.

"The US is ready to do its fair share," Markey said at a press conference. "Our goal is to work with the world."

Clinton said "too much precious" time had been wasted with grandstanding tactics and other delays, and there are few negotiators here who would disagree. Long-time climate conference attendees said real negotiating had not even started in earnest until last night, despite countries having two years to build up to this point. Poor logistics, which had many delegates waiting in lines for hours to get in, did not help.

"The process has overwhelmed the substance," said Adil Najam, a professor at Boston University who is an adviser to the Pakistani delegation and a former lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading scientific authority on global warming. He said a deal would be struck and celebrated, although it will not be meaningful until the mechanisms of targets, financing, and other details are worked out during subsequent negotiations. A final, binding agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gases is not expected to be reached until next year -- if at all.

Clinton’s announcement about financing from developed countries, although being on the low end of what developing countries want, “just might shake something loose.”

Clinton said the money would come from a “wide variety of sources, public and private” and include alternative financing, but she would not elaborate what that would entail. A special focus would be on protecting forests, a key absorber of heat-trapping carbon dioxide.

Harvard University’s Environmental Economics Program and a climate treaty expert, said the United States could help finance developing countries but it should not be through direct monetary payments.

Instead, he sees much of the money coming from private investment, out of a growing number of nations’ efforts to begin carbon dioxide emission trading programs. Under such programs, polluting industries that emit too many greenhouse gases could pay developing countries to offset the same amount by protecting forests, or by other means.

"That would not add to US debt. Indeed, it would be good for private industry," Stavins said.