SBS Dateline | Interview with Connie Hedegaard

The Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, Connie Hedegaard, faces a daunting task… she’s hosting the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and says failure to reach agreement over the future ‘is not an option’.

It’s the 15th conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and never before have the stakes been so high, with pressure for the 192 countries taking part to reach agreement on when and how greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced.

Mrs Hedegaard has spent much of the past year meeting world leaders in the lead-up to the summit. Almost every government attending wants binding targets for reducing emissions and agreement on how they will achieve them, but with so many details to be agreed, it remains to be seen if a consensus can be reached… the United States has especially faced criticism for not making enough commitment.

Another intrinsic part of the deal is to include a commitment from developed countries to pay for measures in developing countries to adapt to climate change and cut emissions, but the global financial crisis has put a question mark over the costs involved… 130 developing countries say they’ll walk out if the richer countries don’t cooperate.

George Negus speaks to Connie Hedegaard and asks exactly what she wants from the ‘Hopenhagen’ conference, as it’s become known, and just what happens if a deal isn’t worked out.

On air: 22nd November 2009