CLIMATE Change Minister Penny Wong has expressed optimism an effective deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions is possible as the Copenhagen climate conference starts today, despite acknowledging that an unprecedented treaty covering all major emitters was never a realistic goal for this year.
Tens of thousands of politicians, officials, environmentalists, media and protesters have descended on the Danish capital for the start of what has been described as the most important international summit since the end of World War II.
Hopes for the struggling UN climate talks have received a slight boost in recent days, as China, the US and India - together responsible for nearly half of global emissions - have each announced goals to reduce their emissions. Also, US President Barack Obama said he would delay his trip to Copenhagen so it coincided with those of about 100 other world leaders over the final days of the conference.
Despite this, the distance between rich and poor nations remains immense. Developing countries are highly critical of the industrialised world for not living up to expectations it would agree to cut emissions by 25-40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. A recent analysis found current targets add up to a 13-20 per cent cut - numbers that would make it difficult to avert the planet from warming more than two degrees.
With the countdown to the summit in its final hours, Australia's new Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, took the climate issue to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd by challenging him to debates before new emissions trading legislation was introduced in February.
But Mr Rudd brushed off the call, saying Mr Abbott should calm down and develop a policy, now that he has rejected the emissions scheme.
After unexpectedly good results for the Liberals in the Higgins and Bradfield by-elections, including a swing to the Liberals on primary votes in Higgins, Mr Abbott went on the attack, saying: ''It is important that Mr Rudd has the opportunity to explain the implications the new tax would have on family budgets.''
He called on Mr Rudd ''to participate in a public debate, anywhere in the country, at the time of his choosing''. ''We'll debate it up hill and down dale. We'll debate it once, twice, three times, four times, however many times is necessary, until the public feel that they have had their questions answered to their satisfaction,'' Mr Abbott said.
Meanwhile, on the outlook for Copenhagen, several leaders, including Mr Rudd, have warned that a treaty is not possible this year, and have begun talking about a ''two-track process'' of a political agreement this year with a binding treaty to be finalised in 2010.
Senator Wong, who is due in Denmark on Wednesday, said agreement was difficult but ''in our reach'' at Copenhagen if countries had the political will to make a deal on issues including emissions targets and how to meet the extraordinary cost of helping the most threatened deal with climate change. The European Union says it will cost 100 billion euros ($A162 billion) a year by 2020.
''It's going to take time to bed down the details - that was always inevitable. The main thing for Copenhagen is to get the agreement for action,'' Senator Wong said. ''In a nutshell, at Copenhagen countries will need to know what kind of agreement they are signing up for.
''First we need to get agreement on how much the world is going to do as a whole, what individual countries are going to do, and how we'll help vulnerable countries adapt.'' The talks received additional impetus yesterday when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh - head of the world's fifth-largest emitting economy - said he would also attend the final two days of the two-week conference. Mr Rudd is due in Copenhagen on December 17.
India's announcement this week that it would reduce its carbon intensity - a measure of its emissions per unit of GDP - by up to 25 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020 was in marked contrast to its usually strident criticism of wealthy nations for failing to take the lead on emissions cuts as promised.
China had earlier announced a 2020 carbon intensity target of 40-45 per cent below 2005 levels.
But India and China both remain opposed to putting their commitments - neither of which amounts to an absolute cut in emissions - into an internationally binding treaty. The US Congress, currently considering an emissions trading scheme, is also wary of making international commitments, having rejected the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Mr Obama has only been able to propose ''provisional'' targets, including a 17 per cent cut below 2005 levels by 2020. Australia's target range is a cut of 5-25 per cent below 2000 levels, depending on the level of international agreement.
On the domestic front, Mr Abbott claimed the climate issue was a reason the Liberals did well in the weekend's by-elections. ''These results reflect what we have been hearing - people are deeply concerned about the cost of an emissions trading scheme on their family budget.''
Mr Rudd said: ''Climate change is the great challenge of our generation. Despite our differences, Mr Howard had a policy on climate change, as did Mr Turnbull. It was called an emissions trading scheme. I have a policy on climate change. It's called an emissions trading scheme. Mr Abbott … does not have any policy on climate change.''
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