57 Days Until Copenhagen

The World Bank recently published current estimates of required financial support from industrialized to developing nations to combat climate change at $75B to $100B annually until 2050. Even if the US and others concede, these nations want allocations to be controlled by the first-world funded World Bank rather than the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This all presents a real risk to other international aid as some dollar shifting seems inevitable.

Developed countries are eschewing the Kyoto model, which did not focus on emissions of 130 developing nations such as China and India, but rather are proposing self-established and self-regulated reduction commitments. However, some global coordination and regulation would seem essential if reduction targets are to be achieved.

A last glimmer of hope for a Copenhagen agreement exists in the Nobel Laureate's visit to China in November. If Obama can hash out the differences between the primary two super-powers / super-emitters then most other nations of consequence will have little choice but to follow in line.