Quotes out of Copenhagen. (December 23, 2009)

Nature's Jeff Tollefson writes that: "A weak international climate agreement leaves room for science to shape the next round of negotiations."

Here are a few quotes post the declaration of the Copenhagen Accord:

Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, Sudan's fiery chief negotiator and chairman of the G77, claimed that the deal would do nothing less than "destroy" Africa.

"This is not what we have been seeking, but it is a beginning," said Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives, "I beg all nations to please back this document and do not let these talks collapse."

"The most important thing to get done at this moment is to get moving," adds John Holdren, Obama's chief science adviser. "Let's not argue for the next five years what the perfect goal is. Let's get going in the right direction."

Even the toughest and most robust measures will not achieve 2 °C," Parry says. "We should hope for 2 °C but realistically expect 3–3.5 °C, and then plan for 4 °C." [Martin Parry of Imperial College London, is a former co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working group on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability]

IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri [commenting on the lack of significant commitment to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions] said:   "There's a certain inertia that will resist it. There are mindsets that will resist it. There are vested interests that will resist it — let's not minimize their effectiveness. This is something that politically one had to anticipate."