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Q&A: The Copenhagen climate summit BBC

What are the negotiations aiming to achieve?

  The goal is a political agreement on curbing global greenhouse gas emissions and providing funds to developing countries, to help them adopt green technologies and adapt to the effects of climate change

The goal is a political agreement on curbing global greenhouse gas emissions and providing funds to developing countries, to help them adopt green technologies and adapt to the effects of climate change.

What are the main areas of disagreement?

These include:

• The amount by which developed countries must cut their greenhouse gas emissions
• The amount of effort developing countries should make to curb their emissions
• Procedures for monitoring and verifying each country’s emissions
• The amount of money developed countries should transfer to developing countries, to help them curb emissions and adapt to the effect of climate change
• The mechanism for transferring this money, and the timescale
• The type of agreement that should result – an international treaty, like the Kyoto Protocol, or something weaker
• The future of the Kyoto Protocol – whether it should be part of the Copenhagen deal, or replaced by it

How many degrees of   of warming, above pre-industrial levels, should be regarded as the acceptable maximum