Reaching a binding international agreement in the upcoming climate change negotiations in Copenhagen will be "impossible", an Allens Arthur Robinson climate change expert has predicted.
Allens partner Grant Anderson told Lawyers Weekly today he believed that, at most, countries might be able to reach agreement on smaller-scale issues such as the future of the clean development mechanism, but that the key questions - such as what scale of emissions Australia will take on after 2012 - will remain unanswered.
"It will be impossible to get a comprehensive legal climate change agreement. The big issues such as targets for developed countries, commitments made by developing countries and the package of financial and technical assistance to be given to developed countries - those aren't going to be resolved at Copenhagen, I don't think," he said. "They'll take another six to 18 months to resolve."
- Zoe Lyon