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On the last day of COP 15, President Obama’s arrival offered no further commitments for emission reduction targets or finance for developing countries. Our current targets are a sad 4% below 1990 levels by 2020. Science tells us that we need 25-40% reductions below 1990 levels by 2020. We are currently committed to supporting a global fund of $100bn to help developing nations cope with the effects of climate change. This amount simply does not serve justice to those who are and who will be facing the catastrophic effects of climate change.

Obama has the executive power to sign onto a fair and binding treaty. He does not need Congress to sign onto this treaty. Read about President Obama’s authority to make an international climate commitment without waiting for Congress here.

GREENPEACE COPENHAGEN STATEMENT:

Copenhagen, 18 December 2009

Commenting on the Copenhagen outcome Greenpeace International Executive Director, Kumi Naidoo, said:

"Not fair, not ambitious and not legally binding. The job of world leaders is not done. Today they failed to avert catastrophic climate change.

The city of Copenhagen is a climate crime scene tonight, with the guilty men and women fleeing to the airport in shame. World leaders had a once in a generation chance to change the world for good, to avert catastrophic climate change. In the end they produced a poor deal full of loopholes big enough to fly Air Force One through.

We have seen a year of crises, but today it is clear that the biggest one facing humanity is a leadership crisis.

During the year a number of developing countries showed a willingness to accept their share of the burden to avert climate chaos. But in the end, the blame for failure mostly lies with the rich industrialized world, countries which have the largest historic responsibility for causing the problem. In particular, the US failed to take any real leadership and dragged the talks down.

Climate science says we have only a few years left to halt the rise in emissions before making the kind of rapid reductions that would give us the best chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. We cannot change that science, so instead we will have to change the politics - and we may well have to change the politicians.

This is not over, people everywhere demanded a real deal before the Summit began and they are still demanding it. We can still save hundreds of millions of people from the devastation of a warming world, but it has just become a whole lot harder.

Civil society, the bulk of which was locked out of the final days of this Climate Summit, now needs to redouble its efforts. Each and every one of us must hold our leaders to account. We must take the struggle to avert climate catastrophe into every level of politics - local, regional, national and international. We must also take it into the board room and onto the high streets. We can either work for a fundamental change in our society or we can suffer the consequences of one."

Brinkley’s last blog entry ended on a positive note. She said:

“We will keep pushing on our world leaders until they meet our demands. We will reach our goal of real climate solutions and we will do it together. We are part of an absolutely amazing and incredible network of people in such a significant international movement.”

As this movement has progressed, it has become more and more apparent how many people around the world are part of it. Because of this, our world leaders will be pushed into a fair and binding treaty. We have solidarity, we have hope!!!

Look at these pictures of activists around the world!!

Together

we will change the world.

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UNCW Environmental Concerns Organization is a student group working to push for fair, ambitious, and sustainable solutions to environmental issues on local, national, and global scales.