Climate change, initially viewed as primarily an environmental concern, has become an extremely important and complex political, economic and
development issue. There is growing political impetus to agree to a new and more rigorous international legal framework for climate change
mitigation to replace, or at least extend, the current arrangements under the Kyoto Protocol.

The pervasive mistrust with which the Copenhagen Conference ended does not augur well for post-Copenhagen negotiations. This commentary explores existing fault lines and proposes creative ways of moving forward.

At his inaugural remarks in January 2009, US President, Mr. Barack Obama proclaimed: "Our time of standing pat, of protecting national interest and putting off unpleasant decisions-that time has surely passed." The meager result in Copenhagen unfortunately confirms that unpleasant decisions are indeed still being put off. World leaders continued talking in Copenhagen rather than acting.

Even the most enthusiastic climate advocate would have been disappointed with the outcome of the climate change conference held in Copenhagen. To have expected something like a new, detailed, legal treaty would have been naive; the Conference was always about long-term signals and overall market sentiment and not about short-term strategies affecting carbon prices.

The 15th Conference of the Parties (CoP 15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Copenhagen from the 7th to the 18th of December, 2009. At this CoP, agreements were to be finalised in two sets of parallel negotiations.