Stay focused, committed says UN Secretary General

Nov 29, 2009 News

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 …as Commonwealth finds consensus heading to Copenhagen Climate Change talks

 

By Gary Eleazar in Trinidad  

By way of the Port of Spain Climate Change Consensus or the Commonwealth Climate Change Agreement, leaders representing some one-third of the world’s population, including both the developed and developing world found common ground yesterday, and have signed on to a common position heading into the Climate Change talks in Copenhagen next month.

During the announcement of the Commonwealth position, United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon warned world leaders to stay focused and committed to Copenhagen.

The future of the planet is at stake, he added.

The top diplomat said that what is needed is political leadership, and an international legally binding agreement to ensure emission levels are cut and that finances be made available to the poor and developing countries whose emission levels are the least but who face the worst fate in light of climate change.

“We know what the science is telling us…Commonwealth will walk the walk to a solution with the rest of the world.”

Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning, whose country is hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), pointed out that the forum was recognized by all members of the grouping as an opportunity to add value toward securing a legally binding agreement in Copenhagen.

He said that with the Agreement reached that includes powerhouses such as Australia, India, Canada and the United Kingdom, among others, a strong and clear signal has been sent to the rest of the world.

Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, said that the agreement behind which the Commonwealth has placed its weight deals with the need for a substantial fund to be established to build on the $10B fund announced by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday.

Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have agreed to contribute US$10 billion toward climate change development.

Prime Minister Rudd said that Copenhagen must seek to provide immediate support for the small, poor and developing nations.

He too stressed the need for the world leaders to arrive at a legally binding agreement that would become operational at the earliest opportunity.     

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s Prime Minister and currently the President of the Climate Change negotiations, was invited to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to lend weight to its outcome on the issue. He said that he was impressed with the agreement and as such is now encouraged that so many leaders have pledged their support to a definitive position in Copenhagen.

At present, some 90 countries have confirmed their participation at the Copenhagen meeting.

Rasmussen did point out, however, that there is still a substantial amount of work to be done before Copenhagen, but added that progress is evident.

Under the declaration signed by the Commonwealth leaders, an equitable governance structure to manage the financial and technological support must be put in place and that a future governance structure should provide for states to monitor and comply with arrangements entered under a new Copenhagen agreement.

The leaders agreed that “(They) need an ambitious mitigation outcome at Copenhagen to reduce the risks of dangerous climate change without compromising the legitimate development aspirations of developing countries.”

They also stressed what they called a common conviction that urgent and substantial action to reduce global emissions is needed. There was a range of views as to whether average global temperature increase should be contained below 1.5 degrees or to no more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The Commonwealth leaders will also be pushing for an early peaking year for global emissions, adding that developed countries should continue to lead on cutting their emissions, and developing countries, in line with their national circumstances, should also take action to achieve a substantial deviation from, “business-as-usual emissions including with financial and technical support, and also supported by technology and capacity building.”

It was also agreed to that any progress towards predictable and adequate finance for adaptation and mitigation measures must be achieved in any new multilateral approach and that public and private financial resources for developing countries need to be scaled up urgently and substantially by 2020.

“We recognise that adaptation finance in particular should be targeted towards the poorest and most vulnerable countries…The provision of finance should be additional to existing official development assistance commitments. In this respect, we acknowledge the potential role of the private sector and carbon markets.”

The leaders in their declaration also said that ensuring the viability of states should underpin a shared vision for long-term cooperative action and a long-term global goal for emission reductions and in building towards an international agreement, all countries will need to play their part, in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is the last major conference prior to the Copenhagen conference, hence the reason behind the presence of the French and Danish heads as well as the UN Secretary General. Poor and developing countries could now only wait and see what will be the reality at the conclusion of the Copenhagen climate change deliberations.  

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