The New York Times reported recently about the Copenhagen Accord, the climate agreement reached by the United Nations.  The final version of the agreement is far from what some hoped, but still sets out important provisos for the future.  For instance, the accord stipulates that global temperatures should be at two degrees above pre-industrial levels by 2050, and billions of dollars will go to developing countries to help them fight climate change.  Additionally, developed nations must submit economy-wide emissions targets for 2020 by the end of January.  The summit also established the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund to support efforts in developing countries to go green.

One of the major criticisms of the agreement is that it is not legally binding, which makes its regulations unenforceable.  Also, language was removed from earlier drafts which specified the percent reduction goals for greenhouse gases: 50% globally and 80% in developed nations.  Including those numbers would have been a major step forward, but it was forced out of the final draft.  Also, many of the smaller and developing countries felt that they were left out of the drafting process, as the final accord was worked out between the United States, China, Brazil and India.  It remains to be seen whether the Copenhagen Accord will prompt significant change.