A war on drafts has broken out at the Copenhagen climate conference. In response to an alleged Danish draft that was leaked, China, India, South Africa and Brazil on Thursday published a draft for a climate deal calling for a “binding” amendment to the Kyoto Protocol.
Duel on drafts
Another climate draft has emerged. The senders are major emerging economies who call on rich countries to reduce their carbon emissions by more than 40 percent.
The initiative, led by Beijing, was conceived as a rebuttal by developing countries to the ”Copenhagen Agreement” draft allegedly written by the UN conference’s host country and leaked by The Guardian newspaper Tuesday this week.
According to AFP, the "Copenhagen Accord", posted on the website of French daily Le Monde, embraces the objective of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. It calls on rich countries – committed to CO2 reductions under the Kyoto Protocol of at least five percent by 2012 – to "multiply by eight" and points out that reductions should be made "mainly through domestic measures" and not through the purchase of so-called "offsets" outside their borders in developing countries.
Regarding funding, the world's major emerging economies call for the creation of a special fund under the authority of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Obama: Climate change is a security issue
“Not only scientists and environmental activists call for action on climate change, but also military leaders understand that our common security hangs in the balance,” said President Obama in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.
Giving the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," has been seen as a means of boosting international climate talks.
In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, President Obama stressed the importance of confronting climate change:
"There is little scientific dispute that if we do nothing, we will face more drought, more famine, more mass displacement – all of which will fuel more conflict for decades," and then he drew attention to the question of security in the climate problem:
"It is not merely scientists and environmental activists who call for swift and forceful action – it's military leaders in my own country and others who understand that our common security hangs in the balance."
According to AFP, the Group of 77 seized the opportunity to urge Barack Obama to steer the US back into the Kyoto Protocol and to release 200 billion US dollars to fight climate change:
"That's the challenge that President Obama needs to rise to. This is what we expect from him as a Nobel Prize winner," said Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping of Sudan, representing 130 countries in the G-77 bloc and China.
Medvedev to attend conference
The Russian president will be joining some 110 heads of state and government in the final stages of COP15.
“The president of the Russian Federation will participate in a meeting of heads of state and government within the framework of the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Copenhagen,” the Kremlin said in a statement according to the Straits Times.
Conference host Denmark welcomes the news of Medvedev’s arrival. “This means leaders from the world’s 15 biggest emitters will be attending the conference,” a Danish official tells cop15.dk. (Photo: Scanpix/AFP)
Nations demand tougher climate goals
The two-degree target has split the UN right down the middle. According to the Alliance of Small Island States, more than a hundred nations demand a 1.5-degree limit on the global temperature rise.
"Half of the United Nations is calling for ambitious and specific targets," Dessima Williams, head of the 43-member Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), told a news conference at the ongoing UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.
According to Reuters, she said more than 100 nations had signed up for a goal of limiting rises in temperatures to 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The 1.5 Celsius goal would require cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by rich nations of at least 45 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, Reuters reports
G-77: Personal call on President Obama
The Group of 77, representing the majority of the world's developing countries, urges the US to join the Kyoto Protocol and commit to emission reductions comparable to those of other industrialized nations.
“USA is the world's largest emitter historically and per capita. A reduction of four percent (compared to 1990) will not help save the world. We ask USA to join the Kyoto Protocol and take on commitments comparable to Annex 1 countries (industrialized countries),” Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, chair of the G-77, told a press conference.
“This is a challenge that President Barack Obama needs to rise to as a Nobel Prize winner and as an advocate of a multilateral global society. We know he is proud to be a part of that community through his family relations in Africa,” Di-Aping added.
The G-77 chair also referred to historic US efforts to secure world peace and security.
“The American Congress approves billions of dollars in defense budgets. Can you not approve 200 billion to save the world?”
Bernarditas Muller, coordinator for G-77 and China in relation to the AWG-LCA (Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action), stressed that funding from industrialized countries to the third world should not be regarded as development aid:
“You need to remember that the financing is an obligation of the developed countries under this Convention. Through the flexible mechanisms (under the Kyoto Protocol) the developing countries are helping the developed countries to meet their commitments.”
Ms. Muller insisted that funds should be under UN control:
“Since carbon trading involves private funding, it is clear that it will go where there is a profit to be made. This is why we – G-77 and China – propose an adaptation fund to distribute the funding within the developing community – of course under the (Kyoto) Protocol.”
The coordinator also resisted recent speculations over divisions within the Group of 77:
“This is a perceived division. We have common positions on technology transfer and on mitigation and we are strongly defending these positions,” Bernarditas Muller said.
Copenhagen summit tops Google
Overtaking the position from American golf star Tiger Woods, "Copenhagen" is now the number one search query on the world's leading internet search engine.
With all due respect to other qualities of the Danish capital, it is of course the ongoing UN conference on climate change, COP15, that has just made "Copenhagen" the current most frequent search request at search engine Google.
According to Treehugger.com the position was taken over from American golf player Tiger Woods.
The web media states that the figures show that "the global society is overwhelmingly interested" in the conference and also notes that other related terms like "climate change" and "global warming" are also ranking high.
Sweden pledges 800 million euro for climate change fund
Sweden says it will give 800 million euro (1.2 billion US dollars) to help developing nations fight climate change.
Government spokeswoman Roberta Alenius says Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will announce Sweden's donation to a European Union program for a so-called "fast-start" financing fund on Thursday.
The total EU donation is expected to be proposed at the meeting in Brussels.
Sweden currently holds the rotating EU presidency and is heading talks with other members of the bloc about potential contributions.
Alenius said Wednesday that not all the 27 countries would be able to assist because some are experiencing serious financial problems.
Source> http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=2928
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