哥本哈根气候大会达成不具法律约束力协议

"The conference of the parties decides to take note of the Copenhagen Accord of the 18th of December 2009."

The culmination of two years of talks on climate change is a deal viewed by many only as a first step. The 193 nations meeting in Copenhagen to tackle global warming have agreed to take note of a controversial deal. The accord hammered out by five nations including the US and China ran into widespread opposition.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says it's better than nothing.

"The Copenhagen Accord may not be everything that everyone hoped for. But this decision of the Conference of Parties is a beginning, an essential beginning."

The Copenhagen Accord sets a maximum rise in global warming at no more than two Celsius. It offers 100 billion dollars in annual aid from 2020 to help developing nations, but it's not legally binding and doesn’t say how much greenhouse gases will have to be cut to achieve its aim. Many delegates were hoping for something much further.

"This is not a complete document, but it has features that it can migrate to become a completely binding and a very good planet-saving document."

"It's disappointing not to have got the global goal."

In a further twist, the Copenhagen Accord will list those countries for and against it. The compromise was reached to avert total collapse of the talks.

Paul Chapman, Reuters.

Glossary [only for reference]

take note (of something) [phrasal verb]: to pay attention to something
culmination [uncountable]: something, especially something important, that happens at the end of a long period of effort or development
hammer something out [phrasal verb]: to decide on an agreement, contract etc after a lot of discussion and disagreement
run into something [phrasal verb]: to start to experience a difficult or unpleasant situation
maximum [only before noun]: the maximum amount, quantity, speed etc is the largest that is possible or allowed
Celsius [uncountable]: a scale of temperature in which water freezes at 0º and boils at 100º
binding: describing a promise, agreement etc that must be obeyed
delegate [countable]: someone who has been elected or chosen to speak, vote, or take decisions for a group
migrate [intransitive + from/to]: to shift, as from one system, mode of operation, or enterprise to another
twist [countable]: an unexpected feature or change in a situation or series of events
avert [transitive]: to prevent something unpleasant from happening
collapse [singular, uncountable]: a sudden failure in the way something works, so that it cannot continue