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 World leaders gathered at the Copenha-gen Climate Summit took an historicstep to halt climate change and global warming today. The deal will force ambi-tious cuts in global carbon emissions,end deforestation and help fund climateprotection measures in the developing world.The intense negotiations spilled intothe early morning hours with U.N. nego-tiators eventually emerging clutching a170-page document that will set the world on a new industrial and economicpath. The agreement heralds a revolu-tion in the way energy is produced andhow tropical rainforests are protected. Italso provides large sums of money to en-
A TURNING POINT FOR THE PLANET
 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Ger-man Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jose Ma-nuel Barroso congratulate each other following the Copenhagen Climate Sum-mit, where world leaders agreed to massive reductions in greenhouse gasemissions. The new policy came about in response to public protests aroundthe globe demanding that world leaders do the right thing for the planet.
Heads  sae agree hisric climae-saving deal
able developing nations to leapfrog car-bon-heavy, industrial development tocreate a cleaner future.The executive secretary of the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Cli-mate Change, Yvo de Boer, emergedbleary-eyed but smiling to declare: “Thedeal has been sealed. A deal that willplace the world on the path to avert run-away climate change. A deal we can allbe proud of.” A visibly delighted De Boer kickedoff the closing press conference with acelebratory speech worthy of an Oscar winner. Clearly emotional, De Boer wenton to thank European leaders for theircourage in breaking the deadlock in ne-gotiations early last summer. The Euro-pean Union’s landmark pledge last Juneto contribute $50 billion (€35 billion) forclimate protection measures in develop-ing countries was matched this week byU.S. President Barack Obama, whopromised to contribute a further $60 bil-lion (€43 billion).De Boer went on to thank the army of anonymous bureaucrats who workedtirelessly to create a coherent frame- work, the scientists who rang the alarmbell and spoke out against political com-promise and the world leaders who setaside their differences and worked to-gether in the best interest of the planetand its people. Most notably, he thankedthe thousands who, over the past severalmonths took part in nonviolent direct ac-tion to put the agreement’s conditionsfirmly on the negotiating table.“Thanks to the determined mobiliza-tion of hundreds of thousands of citi-zens, the leaders of world have agreed toambitious greenhouse gas emission cutsand to fund climate change adaptationin the developing world,” said de Boer.The Copenhagen deal binds indus-trial nations such as the U.S. and the Eu-ropean Union to a 40 percent cut in theirgreenhouse gas emissions, compared to1990 levels. Developing countries alsopromised to slow their current growth inemissions by 30 percent, with the help of $155 billion (€110 billion) in total fund-ing from industrialized countries. Thedeal also sets up a U.N. managed fund tohelp protect forests across the globe.U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki Moonsaid: “The road to Copenhagen has beenlong and winding, and sometimes feltmore like a highway to hell, but the dealhas been sealed. The developed worldhas shouldered its responsibility andagreed to make ambitious greenhousegas emission cuts and to fund emissionreductions and climate change adapta-tion in the developing world, includingrainforest protection. In return develop-ing countries have agreed to adopt thenecessary reduction measures.” According to negotiators the deal hasbeen structured to keep global tempera-ture rise to below two degrees Celsius,the tipping point beyond which scientists warn of runaway climate change.Throughout the two weeks of U.N. talks,
COPENHAGEN
Eurpean leadersinsrumenal in drivinghe agenda
BY MICHAEL COUNTRY 
HIsTORIC wINfOR AMAzONpROTECTIONCELEB CLIMATEDENIER RECANTspOsITIONRENEwABLEBOON ONTRADING fLOORGREENDIRECTORfACEs HITCH
Markes sarn news  Cpenhagenclimae dealMass acivism jus clicks rmre peplehan ever
 When the deal to save the climate wasannounced in the early hours of themorning in Copenhagen the first mar-kets to respond were in East Asia. Mar-kets in the Philippines and Indonesiasoared as analysts adjusted prices to re-flect the global step back from thebrink.“It’s a complete myth that the mar-kets have never believed in climatechange,” said Damon Wong, marketsanalyst with HSBC. “For years long terminvestments in places like the Philip-pines have been viewed as likely to besunk by the end of the century. Literally.Now that civilization is not going to col-lapse, we can plan for the long term.”European markets were also expect-ed to open sharply higher today, as theprospect of massive investment pro-grams in wind and solar power is expect-ed to boost national economies. Unex-pected beneficiaries included U.K. ship- yards, which are already looking for- ward to a raft of new orders followingGordon Brown’s commitment to put100,000 offshore wind turbines in theNorth Sea over the next five years.“Building offshore platforms for 100,000 turbines and the fleet to install andmaintain them is a dream come true forshipbuilding,” said John Moore of SwanHunter shipyards. “With our experiencein North Sea drilling this is an area whereU.K. shipbuilding should lead the world.”Big winners from the new energyeconomy are expected to be Germany,Denmark and Spain, whose investmentsin renewable energy have created thriv-ing industries. President Sarkozy of France was part of a round of late nightdiplomacy, which resulted in the re-placement of nuclear export agreements with guarantees of technical support forsolar power.The move could make the pan-Medi-terranean solar grid a reality, previouslyOver the last six months, hundreds of thousands of people across Europeparticipated in nonviolent direct actionfocused on corporate and governmenttargets across the continent.The protests were designed to dis-rupt “business as usual” and force thesecompanies and politicians into devel-oping a sane climate change agenda. Inalmost non-stop actions, thousands were arrested, raising public aware-ness of the urgency of action on global warming and raising the stakes and po-litical costs for politicians and corpora-tions who tried to ignore the issue.“Financially and in a public-rela-tions sense, we simply couldn’t affordto put a large percentage of the popula-tion in jail for nonviolent political dis-sent,” admitted Wolfgang Schäuble,the Interior Minister of Germany. “Wehad to change our policy. Personally, I was relieved. I’ve always been a closetenvironmentalist and these activistsmade it possible, even fashionable, forme to come out of that closet.” While much of the civil disobedi-ence was spontaneous or quickly orga-nized by activist groups, at least one website helped make civil disobedi-ence a mainstream phenomenon. Be- yondTalk.net provided a convenientand accessible method for people toparticipate in nonviolent direct action.Those who signed up could learnthe principles of civil disobedience, inthe model of Gandhi and Martin LutherKing, and were then quickly given theopportunity to put that knowledge intopractice. The website also offered an“action offset” program that providedthose who couldn’t risk arrest with themeans to help those who could by do-nating funding for food, transportationand bail.“I used to get my energy and envi-ronmental policy from whatever ener-gy company I was meeting with that
LONDON
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He’s a man that many love to hate, evenin his own country. French presidentNicolas Sarkozy is often satirized ascontrolling and pushy and with a blinglifestyle and trophy wife whom he lovesto flaunt. As his many critics analizeSarkozy’s complex presidentialpsychology and its impact on his be-haviour and political actions, theFrench president never seems to missan opportunity for self- publicity. Yet even Sarkozy will surely nevermatch the startling impact of his decla-ration upon arrival at the Copenhagensummit: “Nuclear is dead. I have killedit. This death releases an initial €10 bil-lion of investment in renewables inFrance and €5 billion to help the devel-
Sarkz: Nuclear is dead
PARIS
France revluinizes heclimae summi, sunsdelegaes and leaders
BY fRANÇOIsE BOUTON
oping world to kick-start mitigation,reduce emissions and kill deforesta-tion by 2015. This is the way forwardfor France and for the planet.“We are also withdrawing all statesupport for the construction of new generation nuclear power and stop-ping the Olkiluoto 3 reactor project inFinland. The French taxpayer will nolonger subsidize the dying nuclear in-
‘Clean Coal’ Prank Gone Wrong 
Coal industry executives apologizedfor claims they could produce cleancoal. “It was a prank that simply got outof hand,” said one executive. Page 14
Climate Activists Worry 
Long-time climate activists scored amajor victory at the Copenhagen Cli-mate Summit. Now they are worryingabout their job prospects. Page 17
From the Publishers
This special edition of the InternationalHerald Tribune was produced byGreenpeace to show world leaders,and all of us, the future we might have if they do right by the planet. Page 54
Global Warming SkepticsSwitch Positions
Some scientists, who were previouslyoutspoken skeptics of global warming,are now warning that significantly re-ducing CO
2
emissions is their new  worry. “What happens if we reduce ouremissions too much?” wonders oneskeptic. Page 9
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The U.K. abandoned coal. Barack Obama, seriously ruffled for once,tried to grab back the initiative but wasultimately left to follow the Frenchlead and belatedly confirmed the Unit-ed States’ full commitment to peak emissions by 2015, 40 percent emis-sions cuts by 2020 and $60 billion fordeveloping countries.The United States, China and theothers scrambled to save face on thelargest possible public stage.Sarkozy’s environmental critics couldonly laud his achievement whilstpointing out that they created his pro-gram in the first place.Sarkozy remains a divisive figure.His relationship with the other worldleaders will always be prickly but fornow he is the man of the hour. Sarkozycame to Copenhagen daring to leadthe drive to meet the global climatechallenge and through sheer force of personality and ambition won the po-sition he most coveted on the top stepof the podium.dustry. We will use this money for thebenefit of our future generations, notto burden them with nuclear risks anddeath...sorry, debt.”His stunning proposal will free upmassive investment in renewable en-ergy in France and give technical andfinancial assistance for the developing world. He will achieve this by endingall subsidies to the French nuclearpower industry. Determined to domi-nate proceedings and force forwardthe climate change agenda, he ener-gized the summit and left his counter-parts momentarily speechless.The consummate risk-taker wastaking a consummate risk by layingout his biggest concession at the out-set. Other delegates could have beentaken aback by Sarkozy’s gesture andresorted to gradually decreasing ges-tures of support. But the gamble worked. Sarkozy’s challenge rapidlygenerated a snowball effect of climatechange-busting bids from world lead-ers desperate not to be shown up.
Sarkozy announces an end to reli-ance on nuclear energy in France.
GREENPEACE / JOËL VAN HOUDT
 more on page 6 more on page 2
AFP PHOTO/ ERIC FEFERBERG
 
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 We know what happened. Massivenonviolent direct actions led to massarrests, filling up the jails, raising massconsciousness about climate changeand putting great pressure on Europe’sleaders. This forced a real agenda ontothe Copenhagen talks, leading to thecooperative global solutions that arenow being implemented. Yes, we’re all grateful to those whoput their lives and livelihoods on theline in the streets, shutting down offic-es, power plants, docks, highways, etc.But humanity also owes a debt to an un-sung group of people.The people who didn’t get up off their couches.The people who sat back and watched it all happen on their TVs.The only finger they lifted was topush a button on their remote, or toclick their mouse, yet they proved vitalto the mass movement.Thanks to the concept of “action off-sets,” people who were unable or un- willing to risk arrest themselves wereable to log on to websites like Beyond-Talk.net and donate vital funds to themovement to make up for their own in-action. These donations provided mon-
Heads  sae agree hisric climae-saving deal
to developing nations. Now the rest of the world has followed our lead.”The international executive directorof Greenpeace hailed the deal as “a vic-tory for sanity, for the planet and itspeople” and paid tribute to “all of those who campaigned over the years to setthe conditions for change.”
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Marred by a year of political blaming, bickering andbrinkmanship, the hugely complicatednegotiating process was in the end gal- vanized by the accelerating evidence of climate change impacts. A bridge to the Wilkins ice shelf in Antarctica collapsedduring one round of talks in April, the Arctic sea ice continued to thin, mon-soons were delayed, hurricanes devas-tated the mid-western United Statesand forest fires raged out of control.The breakthrough moment came atan E.U. Heads of State meeting in June.The European players in the G8 werethen able to put pressure on Canada, Ja-pan, Russia and the U.S. to follow suit attheir summit in July. Pressure mountedover the summer, as thousands of citi-zens around the world, concerned aboutthe climate crisis, joined together andmade their voices heard.Many who had never taken to thestreets before called on their heads of state to take personal responsibility forsaving the climate and to turn up in Co-penhagen and address the global crisis. At a key meeting in Bangkok in Septem-ber, U.N. negotiators locked in the 40percent emissions cuts by 2020 for richnations, challenging undecided nationsto meet this benchmark.
WORLDWIDE CELEbRATION
PresidentObama applauded his fellow worldleaders: “Change has come to the worldand we hope a lot less will now come tothe climate. By focusing on commonconcerns and our common destiny, to-day we have forged a common purpose.Saving the climate means saving our-selves, saving the economy and invest-ing in a sustainable future. Today wecan have hope for tomorrow.”In a radical break from past declara-tions, Donald Tusk, the prime ministerof Poland hailed the end of fossil fuel de-pendency in Europe. “The days of thedark age of coal are numbered. No onebelieved it, but the [European Union]has helped the world free itself from theshackles of fossil fuels and embrace theenergy of the sun, the wind and theearth. The pro-democracy revolutionthat began in the shipyards of Gdansk over 20 years ago has culminated in Eu-rope’s ‘solidarity’ with developing coun-tries in the name of the climate.”“Finally, we have the backing of allthe Europeans in protecting what’s leftof the Amazon,” said President Lula daSilva of Brazil. “We already exportedour best football players to their wealthyEuropean teams; we just don’t want tosend wood, soy and meat to them anymore. Viva el clima!”“Oh my God, this is like the bestgroup activity I’ve ever done,” said MitziC., age 18, who was at the public gather-ing outside the summit on a sub-zero winter night. “In fact, it’s the only groupactivity I’ve ever done. Until now, myentire social life has been on Facebook.This is so much more rewarding.”Danish police and security forceshad been on high alert fearing civil un-rest as hundreds of thousands of peoplegathered outside the venue to await thesummit outcome. The chief of policesaid the celebrations went on all nightand no arrests were made. In fact, mostof the police were sent home early.Many diplomats were seen to loosentheir ties and join the celebrations. En- joying a job well done, one of the Euro-pean Commission’s top negotiatorssaid: “Tonight and tomorrow we party,and then it will be back to work to get thedeal ratified and make sure the commit-ments are kept.”thousands of coordinated grassrootsactions. Riding on the coattails of this wave of popular support, the WorldHeritage Committee seized upon theopportunity to get the atmosphere pro-tected by adding it to the list of WorldHeritage Sites. World Conservation Union presi-dent Ian McWanger reported, “For along time now we have been evaluatingthe atmosphere’s importance to theEarth. Through modern research in- volving lasers and balloons we are ableto declare, without a doubt, that weneed to protect the atmosphere, andthat we haven’t been doing a very good job up to this point.” Indeed, CO
2
levelsin the atmosphere have risen as muchas 22 percent in the past 50 yearsalone.Lobbyists were quick to providetheir own response to this highly popu-lar legislation, by promising an equiva-lent amount of public funding to Exx-on-Mobil, which has begun research todevelop a new, petroleum-based atmo-sphere. This offer, and the offer by Shellto offset their pollution by protectingMars’ atmosphere instead, were bothmet with such diverse and pervasiveglobal backlash and boycotts that bothcompanies have subsequently changedtheir names to “not-Philip-Morris” and“Clean Green Oils,” respectively. With the atmosphere in the hands of public domain, residents of the worldare finally free to walk through a field,gaze up at the protected sky, andbreathe fresh air, with the knowledgethat their skies and air will now be pro-tected.The World Conservation Union is“thrilled at this step that will help to up-hold our group’s mission to conservethe world” and is looking into makingthe ocean a World Heritage Site also. “A gentleman from Not-Philip-Morris ar-gued with me against recognizing theimportance of the atmosphere. He saidthat the atmosphere isn’t cultural, so itisn’t within our purview,” saidMcWanger. “But, hey, I told him: No at-mosphere, no humanity. No humanity,no culture. It’s a no-brainer.”The World Heritage Committee has of-ficially declared the Earth’s atmo-sphere as the newest addition to its fa-mous “World Heritage Sites.” Finallytaking its place alongside such won-ders as Chichen-Itza and the city of Fez,the atmosphere had long been rejectedfrom inclusion in this list for what hasbeen cited as “political differences.”However, earlier this month the World Conservation Union, an adviso-ry body to the World Heritage Commit-tee, determined the atmosphere to beof “Outstanding Universal Value” andsubsequently championed the atmo-sphere’s addition to the list of WorldHeritage Sites. A commemorative plaque is set tobe placed on the atmosphere by weath-er balloon as soon as possible, and im-mediate changes are being made toprotect this universal resource.“For years,” laments climatologistRichard Hower, “people have beenabusing the atmosphere.” With its new status, restrictions will apply as to theamount of pollution, particularly CO
2
 and methane, which is allowed to enterthe atmosphere.“Until now, this site was completelyunprotected,” reports climate expert Wu Chi. “Certain countries were treat-ing it like a landfill, without regard for itas an international site of huge valueand importance. As a World HeritageSite, the atmosphere is sure to get theprotection it deserves.” Within the guidelines for the atmo-sphere’s inclusion as a World HeritageSite, specific conditions are named inorder to protect its sustained health.One such requirement, to keep its CO
2
levels below 350 parts per million, wasbrought to the forefront of this year’sCopenhagen Climate Summit through
PARIS
Legislain makes sureamsphere will ge heprecin i deserves
BY HILLARY IONEsCO
Exxn fnall cmes clean Amsphere named wrld heriage sie
 After years of waging a disinformationcampaign denying climate change,ExxonMobil, the American oil and gasgiant, has announced that it is convert-ing fully to renewable energy, follow-ing the positive outcome of the U.N.climate summit in Copenhagen.The corporation has also agreed topay off the fines originally awarded by a jury that the judge later reduced fromthe Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. Theyalso will pay for the creation and en-forcement of a marine reserve in Prince William Sound, where the 11 milliongallon oil spill occurred, killing much of the region’s wildlife.In a press conference this morningat Exxon’s headquarters in Texas, CEORex Tillerson admitted, “We tried toavoid taking action on climate changeby funding climate skeptics and byclaiming that more scientific study wasneeded. We were fully aware of theoverwhelming amount of scientific evi-dence showing the need for seriousemissions reductions. We regret beinga powerful obstacle to real solutionsand political progress, and are gratefulto be forced to act responsibly.”Since 1998, Exxon has spent in ex-cess of $23 million funding a small armyof denial scientists, amplifying their voices and injecting them into the me-dia and policy arenas. But today Tiller-son claimed that they were immediately
DALLAS
ExxnMbil abandnsssil uels and creaes Alaskan marine reserve
BY pETRO CHEMICA 
the consequences of inaction were driv-en home by representatives of countriesfrom all corners of the globe.From North and South, developedand developing country representativesshared their fears of mass migration,mass starvation and mass extinctions.They warned that unchecked climatechange would make poverty permanentin the developing world and severelyimpact those in developed countries.The meeting also addressed the risk thatgeopolitical tensions would increaseunder a warmed world. Reduced sup-plies of potable water, decimated arableland and mass migration from areas ei-ther flooded or rendered uninhabitableby sea level rise and increased tempera-tures could all trigger bloody regionalconflicts.Fredrik Reinfeld, Sweden’s primeminister and current holder of the Euro-pean Union’s rotating presidency toldreporters at the summit that the E.U.had played its part. “I feel proud that myEuropean colleagues and I have beenable to make a difference. We were thefirst to break the deadlock at an E.U.summit six months ago by agreeing thatEurope and other rich countries had aresponsibility to repay their carbon debtey for food, transportation, shelter andbail money for those willing to partici-pate more directly.“It’s like ‘carbon offsets,’ where youpay to plant a tree to make up for flyingon an airplane,” explained ChristopherTimson, the inventor of action offsets.“Except in this case, it’s not bullshit. Your money actually does fund directaction in a clear and useful way. Maybenot everyone can get in the streets, Idon’t know, but lots of people have afew extra bucks. Every successfulmovement has to meet people wherethey are, and accept support in what-ever form people are able to give it.”Indeed, thousands of “eco-couchpotatoes” signed up to financially off-set their inaction, and help the active,on BeyondTalk.net.“I was thrilled to be able to partici-pate,” said Meryl McIntyre, 47, an ac-countant in Fargo, North Dakota.“Since I’m the sole breadwinner, myhusband didn’t want me to go raise aruckus. But I could put a bit of that‘bread’ into something I believe in.”“Honestly, I just really hate the smellof tear gas,” said Bruno Schmidt, 24, acar salesman in Bonn. “I’m very sensi-tive to that, and I also have a neuroticfear of being dragged over asphalt byburly men. But I’ve had a good year,sold a lot of hybrids. And I knew it wastime to give something back. I loggedon to BeyondTalk.net, and for just a few hundred euros, I paid for the train tick-ets and food money for an entire affin-ity group of climate activists. They sentme a thank you email with photos of their arrest. It’s a warm feeling.” withdrawing all funding from every oneof these organizations.Last year Exxon finally admitted, intheir Corporate Citizenship Report,that these organizations were causingproblems for action on climate becausetheir “position on climate change coulddivert attention from how the world willsecure the energy required for econom-ic growth in an environmentally re-sponsible manner.” Tillerson said todaythat this was “the understatement of the year,” and went on to say: “We havebeen at the heart of U.S. inaction on cli-mate change for more than a decade,but today this comes to an end.”Last year’s funding of two of the world’s most outspoken skeptics, SallieBaliunas and Willie Soon, was a “trav-esty,” he said, and had caused himsleepless nights. “It’s a relief to get rid of them, to be honest. I hope they shut upnow.” As the world’s largest publicly trad-ed company, Exxon has no choice but toact on the demands from the majority of their shareholders. Tillerson ended hisannouncement by saying, “It becameclear at the E.U. Heads of State meetingin June that world leaders were taking astand against fossil fuels. Ever sincethen our share values have been fallingbeyond what any of us were expecting.By the time Copenhagen came around, we knew we had to make significantchanges, literally overnight.”Recently an independent opinionpoll of Exxon shareholders revealedthat 89 percent of them were not onlyconcerned about their imminent loss of profit due to increasing political supportfor renewable energy, but that they wereinfuriated with Exxon for lying to themabout climate change and funding cli-mate skeptics for so many years.In another astonishing turnaround,Exxon also announced that they have voluntarily agreed to pay the full $5 bil-lion in punitive damages that was or-dered by a trial jury following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. Even though anappeals court reduced this amount byhalf and a further appeal ruling by theUnited States Supreme Court lowered itto $500 million, Exxon has now insistedon paying the original fine.“It’s the 20th anniversary of the spillthis year and we realize that sufficientreparations are long overdue,” said anExxon spokesperson at a press confer-ence this afternoon in Anchorage, Alas-ka. “We would also like to fund the cre-ation and enforcement of a no-takemarine reserve in Prince William Soundto protect this fragile marine environ-ment from any future oil spills and toprohibit any form of commercial ex-ploitation. We are currently working onthis project with President Obama andexpect to open the marine reserve in2010. It will be called the ‘ExxoneratedOcean Park.’”
New marker ‘acinses’
 
Marine life will benefit from protected climate and no-take reserves.
 
The atmosphere will have a World Heritage plaque placed near here.
AMSTERDAM
GUNTER LEGHORN
GREENPEACE / HENK mERJENBURGHGREENPEACE / PAUL HILTON
FROM PAGE 1
 
 A spECIAL EDITION Of THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
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Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was rushed to hospital late today andtreated for confetti inhalation and minorhug-related injuries sustained at thehero’s welcome he received in Rome onreturn from the climate summit. Grate-ful Italians overwhelmed security at Fi-umicino airport to greet the formerlyself-centered leader and cheer his vir-tuoso performance on the world stage.Beppe Grillo, formerly one of Ber-lusconi’s most outspoken detractors,immediately announced his new show  would be called “Miracles Happen.”“I don’t know what part of him tokiss,” said Grillo. “His big bald head forcoming up with the plan to create jobs inItaly around solar power, the firm handthat made the deal with Chrysler to pro- vide small energy-efficient Fiats to theU.S. market, or those ‘palle’ he neededto face down the British opposition to atough line on emissions.”Silvio Berlusconi’s transformationfrom tycoon to statesman could nothave been more surprising. Famed forgaffes that evoked howls of laughter ev-
In Greece, sun shines r renewable energ 
Berluscni cnunds criics
efficiency research.“I promised a million Italian jobs,and we will have a million Italian jobs,even if I have to take personal respon-sibility to pay for them myself,” he an-nounced. Sales of Austin Minis soaredbriefly, until a spokesperson clarifiedthat the Prime Minister was actuallytalking about employment, and notplanning to do multiple remakes of the1969 Michael Caine film. Also at the airport to greet Italy’sleader was former Prime Minister Ro-mano Prodi, who Berlusconi soughtout in the crowd. “This guy, I love thisguy!” said Berlusconi. “His decision todiscount taxes by 55 percent on busi-nesses that work on energy efficiencyand renewables was part of what gotme thinking. More than 30,000 smalland medium green companies, mostlyin the North, are making profits thanksto that 55 percent tax break.”Berlusconi stunned the Copenha-gen Climate Summit in a breathtakingact of statesmanship that few expect-ed from the 73-year-old leader.Speeches by prime ministers at cli-mate summits are traditionally rhe-torical, with little substance and lessimpact on the actual proceedings. Butthe insurance magnate/media mogul/ prime minister ignored that tradition.He challenged the E.U. leaders to taketough action on climate change. “Dropthese ridiculous excuses that it’s im-possible! That it’s not in your narrow national interests! It IS possible! Oursurvival is at stake! What more com-pelling interest is there than that?”His speech ranged from the direct– “enough solar energy falls on thesurface of the earth every 40 minutesto meet 100 percent of the entire world’s energy needs for a full year” –to the analytical – “a recent Milan Boc-coni University study predicted aquarter million jobs would be created”by the need to reach tough E.U. renew-able energy targets by 2020. He added, with a grin and a wink at the cameras,that Italy’s share of those jobs wouldoutstrip the number of workers cur-rently employed by Fiat.Berlusconi then abandoned proto-col by turning on U.K. leader GordonBrown with a stinging attack about theneed for European leadership to stoprunaway climate change. At this mo-ment, French President NicolasSarkozy shocked the audience whenhe stood up to say that Berlusconi wasmaking sense.Soon other European leaders, suchas Germany’s Angela Merkel, ralliedbehind Berlusconi and his peers at theCopenhagen Climate Summit unani-mously voted to adopt 90 percent re-ductions in greenhouse gas emissionsby 2050.The Greek government is bucking itsimage as a bureaucratic nightmare forthose who want to develop clean ener-gy alternatives, speeding up the pro-cess and setting new, high targets. A spokesperson for the energy min-istry, returning from the landmark Co-penhagen Climate Summit said “Atlong last we can make use of Greece’sabundant clean energy resources forour own benefit. For decades it hasbeen English and German touristssoaking up our glorious summer sun,now we will be taking it back and feed-ing it into the grid.”In a surprising turn of events, themain opposition parties supported new legislation, which scraps the unfairprocedures that endlessly stall cleanenergy development. Generally coal-
ROME (AP)
Berluscni sunsclimae summi wihplic shi
BY MATTIA GRENADO
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi delivered an unexpected and tide-turning speech at the CopenhagenClimate Summit.
STEFANO mONTESI
 BRIEFLY  BRIEFLY 
WorldEurope
power stations approvals typically takeonly about six months.Until now, investors have been kept waiting for so long from so many differ-ent public agencies that many projectsfailed. In fact, seeing projects through was sometimes a comedy of errors, likethe time the Water Utility halted a pho-tovoltaic installation over fears of tox-icity that one of their interns read onthe internet.“This is great news,” said Mr. Papa-dopoulos, president of the RenewableEnergy Producers Association. “Youcan’t believe the things we had to gothrough. A wind park project was
GREENPEACE / DANIEL BELTRÁ
 
Zero-emission forms of energy to benefit from streamlined procedures.
SoUTh
 
 AfRiCA 
More jobs for South Africa, saysTrevor Manuel
South Africans rejoiced followingPlanning Minister Trevor Manuel’s an-nouncement last night that at least onemillion green jobs will be created in thenext six months in the country’s movetoward the energy revolution. Theadoption of a greener economy followsSouth Africa’s commitment to reduceits carbon emissions during the Copen-hagen Climate Summit.This shift in allocation of resourcesfrom other sectors to renewable energyis critical for South Africa, which wasthe 14th highest emitter of CO
2
globally. Already 25 percent of the 2009 budgethas been dedicated to investing in re-newable energy technologies. Part of this funding will go into training of staff to take on the green jobs.In his speech yesterday, the Ministernoted that this energy revolution is thebeginning of a new era for South Afri-cans. “We are acting immediately toinvest in new technologies like concen-trated solar power and wind turbines,and green job creation as part of oureconomic planning,” he said.This new plan will also see at least a15 percent increase in economicgrowth over the next five years.Manuel’s announcement was met with excitement in a country where un-employment rates have risen drasti-cally over the past two years to about 23percent.“Finally, I can get new skills and do acleaner job,” said Thebo, a former min-er who lost his job two years ago.These developments are a clear signthat the South African government isdetermined to meet its targets to reducecarbon emissions by 30 percent in2020.The commitments will not only seea reduction in the amount of coal thatSouth Africa has been using at homebut also a drop in its exports to Chinaand India. South Africa has been heav-ily reliant on coal to meet its energyneeds and is the world’s sixth largestcoal producer.
UniTED
 
kingDoM
Coal plants for emergency housing and art
 With rapid cuts in emissions agreed,decommissioned power plants cannow help solve the housing crisis incrowded cities. Some authorities areputting forward proposals for turningold coal power plants into housing,galleries or deluxe community cen-ters. “Of course there’s going to be alot of cleaning up first,” said MarthaGlade of Clean Up Coal.“These structures are enormous. Why waste all that concrete and steel?If the Tate Modern in London can usean old power station, why not oth-ers?” Jim Bent, former U.K. vagrant,and now a professional advocate forlow-income housing said, “I can tell you that many of those on the streets would jump at the chance to live in anabandoned power station. In fact,many already do.”He did have some concerns overthe re-use of nuclear facilities.“Notlikely mate, we may be homeless but we don’t want to glow in the dark,” heexplained.blocked two years ago by the Civil Avia-tion Agency when it demanded all windturbines be painted with red and whitestripes.”In another case, citizens in a remote village filed a case against the construc-tion of a wind park nearby claimingthat the wind turbines were responsi-ble for bees failing to produce honey.“Hopefully we will now make uplost ground,” said Mr. Papadopoulos.The Ministry even issued a kind of apology for the past bureaucratic bun-gling, admitting that requiring a state-ment of support from the board mem-bers’ mother-in-laws was a tad super-fluous. Along with the trimmed approvalsGreece’s Environment Minister an-nounced a new target of 10 GW of in-stalled renewable energy capacity by2020. “This might at the end be toomodest a target for us,” the ministerconcluded.erywhere except in Italy, where nobodyheard about them because he ownedthe media, Berlusconi was not rated aserious player at the talks. But that allended when he delivered an epic speechthat won the day, including his surpriseannouncement that he would divest allholdings in Mediaset and Fininvest andinstead support renewable energy and
ATHENS
BY GEORGIO spIROs
“ At long last, we can make use of Greece’s abundant clean energy resources for our own benefit.For decades it has been Englishand German tourists soaking upour glorious summer sun . . .”
RANDY OHC
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