In a press conference held just hours after he arrived in Copenhagen,  Stern said the US does not owe a climate debt or reparations. He announced that only ‘limited’ funding would be made available for fighting climate change impacts in developing countries and that too to only the poorest countries. He also added that developing countries must ‘committ to nationally appropriate mitigation actions in an international agreement’. No developing country will accept this.

Perhaps Mr Stern’s statement reflects a US efforts to stall negotiations long enough for world leaders to get desperate for an agreement …any agreement (did I hear the words ‘Danish draft’?)! That way, come the closing ceremony, it won’t look like they’ve failed. 

An Indian negotiator said today that he will block any draft agreement from going to world leaders which is not part of the formal UN negotiations. His exact words: ‘We’d rather go into overtime than sign an uncooked agreement.’

So where do the talks go from here? Heaven knows. The lines have been firmly drawn in the sand. Expect a lot of back-room negotiations and horse-trading before we see anything coming through.

A family tries to reach a relief camp in the worst flooding to hit Northern Karnataka in 60 years.

More than 150 people have died in floods that hit Northern Karnataka in India over the weekend. More than a million people have been displaced by the floods, while close to 40,000 remain stranded.

The Met department estimates some 25 centimeters of rain fell in the area in the past 48 hours. The unusual bit is that this summer, the region also saw one of the most severe droughts. This is the clearest example of the unpredictable impacts of climate change in India so far.

Relief efforts could cost as much as Rs 10,000 crore. The airforce has sent in supply aircraft and helicopters. Local police and the navy have sent in boats and hovercraft. Several companies of Army soldiers have also been deployed in the rescue effort.