Down to the wire for carbon deal
Climate negotiators and heads of states will reconvene in a few hours with the aim of removing the hundreds of square
brackets from a draft emissions reduction agreement.
If the first week of the COP15 meetings was dominated by the split between the developed and developing nations, week
two hasn't been much better, despite the optimistic rhetoric of everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Robert Mugabe to
our own Prime Minister John Key.
A rare show of unity came when New Zealand took a lead role in announcing a $200 million global fund for researching methods of reducing agricultural emissions.
Negotiations are likely to stretch well into the weekend. The SMC will be wrapping up reaction from scientists to any
official announcements from COP15 on agreement as soon as possible.
In Memoriam: Peter Read, scientist and biochar expert
One of the scientists who has provided valuable insight for SMC alerts in 2009 was Massey University's Dr Peter Read.
Sadly, Dr Read passed away in late November as he was preparing for a trip to Copenhagen to observe the climate
negotiations. Our condolences go to his family, friends and colleagues.
Dr Read was a vocal advocate of biochar as a method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. One of his last columns on the
subject was published in the Guardian in March.
ENDS