US aid offer boosts deal at UN climate talks is the headline from the AP tonight. “Large pieces of a climate deal fell into place Thursday with new offers from the U.S. and China, but other tough issues remained before President Barack Obama and other leaders can sign off on a political accord to contain the threat of an overheated world.” The US, as noted here earlier, revealed its support for a hefty annual climate fund. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the announcement and this seems to have given China the political space to say it will allow international monitoring of its emissions.
Meanwhile, Joe Romm, who is on the ground in Copenhagen, reports here that “optimism breaks out at COP-15.” Are we going to be home free? Certainly not! (Obviously.) Romm points out: Major developing countries, such as China and India “… haven’t yet agreed to cap their emissions, let alone to ultimately reduce them. Until that happens, no model of global commitments is going to keep us anywhere near 2°C (3.6F). But that doesn’t mean they won’t agree to a treaty that sets the 2°C target.” There are more than a few miles to go before we sleep.
Tomorrow’s final sessions with the government leaders will be more-than-a-little compelling.