All Eyes on Poznań!

The much-awaited Poznań Conference which is supposed to offer a road-map to the final Copenhagen talks that decide the fate of post-2012 climate-change commitments, will conclude today in Poznań, Poland.
Poznań was intended to be a milestone, a landmark event that illuminated a new and shared vision for a new climate change regime. But in these times of global recession, it is proving hard to convince the involved parties to prioritize climate change. Rumblings are already being heard from the EU about adopting a more lax climate change policy in order to ease the economic burden on players already affected by the global economic downturn. The EU has been a leader in climate change mitigation efforts and its cap and trade system, which aims to reduce greenhouse gases in its industrial sector, is the largest carbon market in the world. Clean technologies from the developing world find funding and support from the EU carbon market. It also supports the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions internally, within the EU by making industries pay for each ton, which was above the designated limit, of carbon dioxide that they emitted into the atmosphere.
Even the EU today is cautious and hesitant to play a lead role in any action plan for slowing global warming. USA, under the Obama government, has pledged to reduce U.S. emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and then a further 80 percent by 2050. It remains to be seen how the Government will achieve this reduction.
Poznań was supposed to have paved the way towards the formulation of a strong, dedicated, consensual international climate change treaty in Copenhagen. Instead Parties have stuck to status quo and Poznań seems to function only as a buyer of time until Copenhagen for world leaders.
The outcome of Poznań will be clearly known in the coming hours. We will remain tuned in to see the final results.