"When presidents and prime ministers departed the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen last month, they left behind a vast legal tangle that experts have barely begun to unravel.

A half-dozen edicts that world leaders handed down -- dealing with everything from verifying carbon emission cuts to mobilizing billions of dollars for poor nations -- require formal enactment rulings from the parties to the U.N. climate conference. But by the time the global summit came to a close on Dec. 18, nations had made none of the necessary follow-up rulings.

Left unsettled and largely unexplained: how and when the leaders' directives laid out in the Copenhagen Accord will become reality.

'Nobody knows the answer,' said Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute think tank. He called the logistical unknowns 'crucial questions' and said that as of Christmas Eve, even U.S. State Department officials were unsure of the next steps."

Lisa Friedman reports for ClimateWire January 4, 2010. [2]

See Also:

"Fault Lines Remain After Climate Talks" (Green Inc./NYTimes) [3]

"Lessons From the Copenhagen Climate Talks" (TIME) [4]

Collection of German Media Assessments of Copenhagen (Der Spiegel Online International) [5]

"Bolivia Leader Calls Alternative Climate Meeting" (AP) [6]

"Copenhagen Climate Talks Disappointing, Says UK" (BBC News) [7]

"China’s Take on How It Saved Climate Talks" (Dot Earth) [8]

"Mexico City Offers Clearer Setting for Next Climate Conference" (SolveClimatw) [9]