Back in those heady 2009 days, before the disappointment of Copenhagen, Denmark, activists felt sure that eight years of climate stalemate under President George W. Bush had ended, and U.N. diplomats greeted State Department Special Envoy Todd Stern with a standing ovation. The love-fest quickly soured, though, as the administration showed itself unable to shepherd carbon-cutting legislation through Congress and unwilling to commit to a new, internationally binding treaty.
Now the tide seems to have turned again. Buoyed by a landmark agreement with China to jointly curb emissions, a $3 billion pledge to an international climate fund and new domestic regulations, observers say that when U.S. officials arrive in Lima, Peru, today for a round of annual negotiations, they will bring credibility to the table.
"Other countries will have to sit up and take notice," former Sen. Tim Wirth (D-Colo.), vice president of the U.N. Foundation, said of other nations at the talks. "The U.S. and China agreement is exceedingly important. If the U.S. and China used to hide behind each other's skirts, they're not doing that, and the rest of the world doesn't have anyplace to hide anymore."
Paul Bledsoe, a climate and energy fellow at the German Marshall Fund, agreed. "I think the U.S. position is more deeply respected around the world than ever before, because all the major nations are convinced the administration genuinely wants an equitable agreement," he said. "That doesn't mean the U.S. isn't going to take a bunch of positions that people don't like, but there is a genuine sense that the U.S. is truly willing to work with all major nations."
The two weeks of talks that begin today are aimed at reaching a new global agreement, to be signed in Paris next year. Still, while the United States may be going into this round with a strong position, it isn't clear how long the global goodwill may last. Simmering just below the surface of the praise that has greeted the U.S.-China deal is a deep skepticism about whether the Obama administration can make good on its half of the deal to cut carbon 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 or deliver on its financial promise to the Green Climate Fund.
Small nations are underwhelmed
"When countries commit to something and they fail to deliver, it creates a lot of mistrust," said Gambian Environment Minister Pa Ousman Jarju.
Former U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said that even though recent developments in the United States have brought goodwill to the Obama administration, leaders still remember that the U.S. efforts under former President Clinton to join the Kyoto Protocol were quickly scuttled by Congress.
Read more at U.S. Holds a Relatively Strong Hand Going into New U.N. Talks, but Old Tensions Linger
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