“I don’t think there is a hope in hell that people will agree to 350 in Copenhagen. I think we’ll get 2 degrees.”
— Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, speaking at a recent meeting with NGO officials.
“350” refers to the goal of reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, while “2 degrees” refers to the goal of keeping the global temperature rise to no more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Both have been discussed as potential targets for a new international climate treaty that will be negotiated in December in Copenhagen.
