Copenhagen is over and the delegates are slowly filtering home. Here are some of the best post-conference quotes.

See also: Copenhagen accord emerges – climate agreement is seen as a small, but necessary, step forward.

“Never again should we face the deadlock that threatened to pull down these talks. Never again should we let a global deal to move towards a greener future be held to ransom by only a handful of countries.”

Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, comments on talks he believes were “at best flawed and at worst chaotic” (BBC).

“For the first time, we have an agreement that requires all of the world’s carbon emitters to actually deal with their carbon emissions and start the process of reducing them.”

Canada’s Environment Minister Jim Prentice talks to CTV about “a turning point in history”.

“It was a conference where the nations of the world, for a whole range of reasons, spent less time negotiating than they should have.”

Australia’s Climate Change Minister Penny Wong (The Australian).

As Nature’s Olive Heffernan awaited the final conclusion of the Copenhagen conference on climate change, author Tom Friedman, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and others gave us their take on the UN talks, and we finally got a glimpse of Barack Obama…

See also: Copenhagen accord emerges – climate agreement is seen as a small, but necessary, step forward.

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen are in the final stages of wrangling over the details of a new global climate deal — a potential successor to the Kyoto Protocol. See Nature’s Road to Copenhagen special and the Climate Feedback blog for more coverage.

It’s the final day of the Copenhagen summit, global leaders are on the podium … they think it’s all over. But is it? As the conference flails its way towards a conclusion, Friday afternoon rumours are flying that UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon asked for a general lock-in, requesting that leaders stay overnight (The Guardian); Reuters say the UN deny this story.

Nature’s Jeff Tollefson says nothing new emerged from key speeches by Barack Obama and Wen Jiabao, but the Brazilian president Lula Inacio Luiz Lula da Silva won applause for his comments that Brazil would contribute money to help poorer countries cope with global warming: “Lula invoked God, angels and miracles, and said all three might be necessary in order to reach a meaningful deal today. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was much more practical, suggesting that maybe it’s time to start thinking about 2010.”

At least three draft documents have appeared so far today, variously dropping and reinstating a commitment to achieve a legally binding treaty by December 2010. (AP)

But regardless of the status of a treaty, all four leaders said they would continue with domestic commitments that have already been made.

Saleem Huq, an adaptation expert and former IPCC lead author currently at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, had a more positive view than the gloom expressed by most quarters: “My take on it is that it’s a success no matter what,” he said, gesturing toward a room full of journalists from all over the world. “It’s a story back home in every country. It’s a much higher level of engagement.”

We’re half way through the second week of talks in Copenhagen where 193 nations are trying to agree a global deal to avoid catastrophic climate change. Nature’s Olive Heffernan caught up with renowned climatologist Stephen Schneider, who says that staying well below 2 degrees of warming is unrealistic.

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are now meeting in Copenhagen to wrangle over the details of a new global climate deal — a potential successor to the Kyoto Protocol. See Nature’s Road to Copenhagen special and the Climate Feedback blog for more coverage.

Discussions continue to grind on in Copenhagen. Nature’s Jeff Tollefson notes that “the Danes have hit the pause button to try to design a new framework for breaking up the text into pieces rather than negotiating everything in the main plenary”.

Meanwhile Olive Heffernan reports that “the US could walk away from signing a deal on climate change unless China agrees to transparency on emissions reductions, according to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton”.

More heavyweight politicians are arriving at the talks as well. Hillary Clinton told the meeting the US would work towards raising $100 billion for developing countries to help them deal with climate change. Canadian PM Stephen Harper has turned up, as has Australia’s Kevin Rudd.

Poor old New Zealand Prime Minister John Key then found he had been unceremoniously dumped from a BBC show in favour of Rudd.

Also not having the smoothest start to his time was UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He and Al Gore took a wrong turn, live on camera. “We assessed the terrain and decided to move on,” says Gore after the pair – unlike the conference in general – easily corrected themselves and smoothly found the right way forward.

At least they’re not having as bad a time as the climate change skeptic who dressed as a polar bear and walked around with a sign reading ‘Where is Phil Jones?’*. He was attacked with a vegetable.

*Jones was the professor whose emails were hacked in the so-called ‘Climategate’ imbroglio.

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are now meeting in Copenhagen to wrangle over the details of a new global climate deal — a potential successor to the Kyoto Protocol. See Nature’s Road to Copenhagen special and the Climate Feedback blog for more coverage.

“With so many heads of state and government having arrived it’s appropriate that the Prime Minister of Denmark presides.”

Danish climate minister Connie Hedegaard has resigned as head of the conference, to be replaced by the Danish prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen. The move was “procedural”, she said. (BBC)

“It’s a pretty uphill struggle here” Gordon Brown, UK prime minister and one of the early top-level arrivers at the conference, takes stock of the situation (BBC).

“Enlightenment: no one, at least no one who will say anything in public, ever knows what’s going on at a COP.”

Myron Ebell, director, energy and global warming policy, Competitive Enterprise Insititute. (on Politico.com)

Nature editor Olive Heffernan reports on the organizational disaster that has left hundreds of registered delegates excluded from the UN negotiations on climate change. As talks on a climate deal heated up at the Bella Centre in Copenhagen, capacity problems left many stranded for hours outside in the cold as they awaited a decision from UN Officials.

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are now meeting in Copenhagen to wrangle over the details of a new global climate deal — a potential successor to the Kyoto Protocol. See Nature’s Road to Copenhagen special and the Climate Feedback blog for more coverage.

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are now meeting in Copenhagen to wrangle over the details of a new global climate deal — a potential successor to the Kyoto Protocol. See Nature’s Road to Copenhagen special and the Climate Feedback blog for more coverage.

“We have – over the last week or so – seen progress in a number of areas, but we haven’t seen enough of it. There is still an enormous amount of work and ground to be covered if this conference is to deliver what people expect it to deliver.”

The UN’s Yvo de Boer says things aren’t moving fast enough (BBC).

“It’s just like schoolchildren. If they have a very long deadline to deliver an exercise they will wait for the last moment.”

Connie Hedegaard, the Danish conference chair, comments on the slow progress (Times).

“We believe all people will benefit from an equitable climate deal that truly energizes the world economy.”

A quote apparently from Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice about his country’s plan to reduce emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2020. It was actually part of a hoax perpetrated by the Yes Men group (Yes Men, Globe and Mail).

“More time should be dedicated to playing a constructive role instead of childish pranks.”

Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office, responds after a number of newspapers are taken in by the hoax (CBC).

“The world’s governments alone cannot make the progress that is needed on global climate change. They need the cities, the states, the provinces, the regions. They need the corporations, the activists, the scientists, the universities.”

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says it will not just be governments that solve climate change (AP).

Under 10,000 – 20/1

Over 30,000 – 4/1

– Bookies Paddy Power offer odds on polar bear numbers in 2011 (via the Guardian).

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are now meeting in Copenhagen to wrangle over the details of a new global climate deal — a potential successor to the Kyoto Protocol. See Nature’s Road to Copenhagen special and the Climate Feedback blog for more coverage.

After last week’s bickering, things haven’t improved much at the Copenhagen climate conference.

Reports from this morning suggest that the G77 group of nations have stormed out in a huff over differences regarding the future – or lack of it – of the Kyoto Protocol (AAP). The main sessions have apparently been suspended after African nations led the walk out (Reuters).

Australia’s climate change minister Penny Wong seems to think the problem is surmountable though. “This is a walk-out over process and form, not a walkout over substance, and that’s regrettable” she says (Sky).

Meanwhile China has given up on its demands for money from the developed world to help it fight climate change. Funding for mitigation efforts in developing countries are legal obligation, says He Yafei, Chinese vice-foreign minister, but “that does not mean China will take a share – probably not” (Financial Times).

One country sticking to its guns though is Russia. The Wall Street Journal reports that is it insisting on keeping its massive stockpile of carbon emission permits even after they expire in 2012:

Russia has warned it could reject any deal from Copenhagen that doesn’t allow it to carry forward the unused carbon permits it holds as a result of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Those who argue against letting Russia keep the credits say Moscow could end up selling them abroad, leading to a collapse in the price of carbon.

For more on this see Nature’s recent business watch.

More from Copenhagen…

“Humans are not the only ones whose fate is at stake here in Copenhagen – some of our favourite species are also taking the fall for our CO2 emissions.”

Wendy Foden, of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, has co-authored a report on 10 species climate change will hit hardest.

“We are now using square brackets, which signify something solid, instead of squiggly brackets, which were far less substantial.”

An unnamed “insider” comments on Copenhagen punctuation etiquette (Guardian).

“It was an illegal demonstration. They were bringing gas masks and things to throw.”

A Copenhagen police spokeswoman says around 200 protestors were arrested yesterday (Times).

And finally… those suggestions that polar bears might be trying to wreck the Copenhagen meeting might not have been so far fetched.

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are now meeting in Copenhagen to wrangle over the details of a new global climate deal — a potential successor to the Kyoto Protocol. See Nature’s Road to Copenhagen special and the Climate Feedback blog for more coverage.

The European Union has agreed to provide 2.4 billion euros per year from 2010 to 2012 for ‘fast start funding’ to get climate mitigation projects off the ground in developing countries. EU leaders say they want a total of 7 billion euros per year coughed up internationally.

“The EU has now taken on a significant share of the total amount and has shown leadership on the issue. Now we want to encourage the rest of the world to contribute to reach 7 billion. It would be good if we could get an agreement on this in Copenhagen”, says Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Swedish prime minister (press release).

Europe’s move garnered praise from the UN’s top climate man, Yvo de Boer.

A “first draft text” is also circulating. It offers a range of potential targets (BBC, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Reuters). The Washington Post have kindly uploaded a PDF of the document and here is the key bit:

ENDS has a nice comparison of the circulating Chinese and Danish texts.

Meanwhile, Lumumba di-Aping, chief negotiator of the China and the G77 group of nations, has called on US politicians to help developing nations access funds the International Monetary Fund holds in reserve. This idea was initially proposed by billionaire George Soros.

“The American Congress has to be asked: you approve billions of dollars in defence budgets. Can’t you approve $200bn to save the world?” says di-Aping (Daily Telegraph).

According to some reports di-Aping also stormed out of negotiations yesterday saying “things are not going well” and the meeting “will probably be wrecked by the bad intentions of some people”.

Finally, the BBC reports that China’s climate minister is not happy as he’s been turned away from the conference centre three times by the guards.