I stopped by the Global Observatory offices at the European Environment Agency at Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen earlier today to watch the heads of state address the conference. Here's what came of my visit:

Copenhagen 1545 hrs CET:

The Climate Group’s responses to today’s major speeches, COP15 ‘crunch’ day:

Mark Kenber, The Climate Group’s International Policy Director: “The deal is still there to be had. We’ve seen there’s genuine commitment to an agreement, with countries reiterating their most ambitious national pledges. If these can be brought together, I think a political agreement is possible, perhaps in the next few hours. The dividing issues now appear to be more procedural than substantive.”

China:

Changhua Wu, The Climate Group’s Greater China Director says: “Premier’s Wen Jiabao’s speech was a strong and clear reiteration of the Chinese government’s commitment to pursue a low carbon development path and its position in the international process for a renewed global agreement on climate change. China has set a carbon intensity target and the Premier promised to do everything China can to achieve – or even exceed – that target. What’s more, China’s commitments are domestically legally binding and unconditional. Premier Wen Jiabao signalled that there’s a need for increased transparency. Whether this is sufficient for the US is unclear, but there does seem to be a narrowing of positions.”

US:

Mark Kenber, The Climate Group’s International Policy Director: “President Obama stated that the US was ready to get the deal done today. By stating that transparency measures shouldn’t be intrusive or impinge on a nation’s sovereignty, Obama helped to narrow the accountability gap between the US and China – one of the key obstacles in securing a deal.”

India:

Mark Kenber, The Climate Group’s International Policy Director: “India’s statement that it was committed to its domestic climate actions regardless of a deal in Copenhagen, was an important signal for the negotiations. It shows that India recognizes the environmental and economic benefit of tackling climate change. But it’s crucial that these national commitments are incorporated into a Copenhagen agreement and there there is no delay in closing the deal. Agreement must be reached today.”

EU:

Mark Kenber, The Climate Group’s International Policy Director: “EU reiterated its call for the US and China to step up their level of ambition in order to seal a deal today. The EU is clearly frustrated that its efforts to show leadership have yet to be reciprocated by world’s largest GHG emitters. Without movement from these critical parties, the EU is unlikely to lift its emission reduction target to its more ambitious 30% pledge. Failure by the EU to commit to this upper level would be a blow to the environmental ambition of any global deal.”

About The Climate Group

The Climate Group is an independent, not-for-profit organisation working internationally with government and business leaders to advance smart policies and technologies to cut global emissions and accelerate a low carbon economy. Its global coalition of companies, states, regions and cities around the world recognise the economic and environmental imperatives of taking decisive action now. The Climate Group was founded in 2004 and has operations in Australia, China, Europe, India and North America.

Breaking the Climate Deadlock report with Tony Blair

The Climate Group launched a report earlier this week. The report “Doing the Deal” is the latest in a series of high-level political reports published jointly with former UK PM Tony Blair designed to break the political deadlock around a global climate deal in Copenhagen.

Photos and reports on our Copenhagen events this week – including with Californian Governor Arnold Shwarzenegger, Prince Albert of Monaco, Governor Doyle, Premier Charest, BetterPlace, Timberland, Google and Cisco are live here and at Flickr

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