Leader of Kyoto Negotiations Casts Doubt on Climate Conference

The head negotiator from the discussions that led to the Kyoto Protocol agreement, Raúl Estrada-Oyuela, has expressed concern regarding Danish environment minister Connie Hedegaard's ability to lead the upcoming climate conference in Copenhagen to a successful conclusion. Lack of Faith in Leadership His critique comes after much drama within the ministry during the past few weeks. Head climate negotiator, Thomas Becker, suddenly resigned after a scandal involving inconsistencies in his budget. This evoked suspicion of an internal power struggle and harsh criticism especially from opposition parties like the Social Democrats and the Socialist People's Party who demanded an investigation. Earlier this year, former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who was originally intended to be host to the conference, abruptly resigned to take his current position as General Secretary of NATO after consistently denying that he had been offered the job. "The current Danish minister of energy and climate — Connie Hedegaard — will therefore officially preside over the talks, but it is not clear to me that she has the necessary experience to truly lead the negotiations," Estrada wrote in an article in Nature. Too Ambitious He also expressed concerns that Denmark's high expectations of the 192-nation conference could be unrealistic and provoke a negative reaction from countries like India and the US, who have made negotiations difficult in the past. He even suggests delaying the deadline for a final agreement by half a year, "Hedegaard has a difficult task at Copenhagen. It might be advisable not to end the conference in December at all, but rather, as we did with the 6th conference at The Hague, reconvene it six months later. Such a delay is not the best option, but may be the only way to reach a meaningful agreement."