'Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen has become complicit in a US so-called 'deal' which would put (US President Barack) Obama's political difficulties ahead of the survival of the world's most vulnerable countries,' Kaisa Kosonen, Climate Policy Advisor for Greenpeace International, said in a statement issued ahead of Monday's Pre-Copenhagen Summit gathering of key environment ministers in preparation for December's climate summit in Denmark.
'I doubt the majority of countries will buy this 'face-saving' plan. When Obama started downplaying the Copenhagen outcomes, did he check with the worlds most vulnerable countries as to whether their survival was now negotiable? Climate change impacts are already affecting millions across the developing world and they need action now. There is no real excuse to postpone decisions on legally binding ambitious action,' said Kosonen.
'EU leaders, including (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel, (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy and (British Prime Minister Gordon) Brown, must immediately step in and publicly oppose this back down from a legally binding climate agreement in Copenhagen,' she said.
Just two weeks ago in Barcelona, Spain, the 43-member Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) expressed outrage at attempts to steam-roll the world's most vulnerable countries into accepting a watered down political agreement at the Copenhagen Climate Summit.
Their calls are supported by the Africa group which said it would accept only legally binding commitments on deep emission cuts and adequate funding from the industrialised world for climate adaption and mitigation, including tackling deforestation.
'This is not about time but rather the absence of political will from industri alised countries, which are refusing to take their fair share of the global efforts, and instead continue to postpone important decisions into eternity. Denmark should be ashamed of itself for caving in to Obama in this so-called deal,' said Kosonen.
Industrialised countries recognised two years ago that they would need to cut their emissions in the range of at least 25-40 per cent. But right now their aggregate emissions stand at a mere 10-17 per cent, not enough to stop climate change.
The industrialised countries at the APEC meeting are largely those at the lower end of this range.
Lusaka - 15/11/2009
Pana
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