‘There is no need for a toothless political declaration’

Dec 19, 2009 News

From Neil Marks in Copenhagen

President Bharrat Jagdeo expressed hope that a solution could still emerge out of all the wrangling at the UN climate summit; at least he is counting on it, for he has declared that there is “no need for a toothless political declaration.”
“The people of our countries deserve more than political rhetoric and defensive posturing while we prepare for failure,” Jagdeo said in an address to his fellow heads of government.
He said together as leaders they need to identity and solve the strategic issues that will create hope; cut through “invented complexity” to come up with a legal agreement.
“This is the best way to isolate those who stand in the way of progress, not through endless procedural wrangling,” Jagdeo declared.
Surprisingly, the President made no mention of his Low Carbon Development Strategy, and in fact, he made no reference to forests at all. He has been pressing the case about the importance of forests in fighting climate change and the need for countries to be paid to keep forests standing; but not a word of it in his speech.
But he did call for long term financing for developing countries. Jagdeo said Copenhagen must end with a firm commitment for funding. He did not go into the effects of climate change, and instead offered a four point plan that could bring about a solution.
First, Jagdeo said there is need to reconcile differences on the temperature targets that are needed to stabilise the atmosphere. He said that whether the target is 1.5 degrees or two degrees is irrelevant if disagreeing with the targets makes the achievement of both impossible.
He suggested that there be a commitment to maximise a two degree rise and review the evidence for a 1.5 degree target by 2015.
Secondly, to achieve these targets, Jagdeo said that we need to ensure that the developed world agrees to clear ambitious binding cuts in emissions, “and we should leave here with clear commitments that cannot be reversed.”
He said focusing on the targets is meaningless unless there is action.
“If the commitments made here are still not enough to reach the stabilisation targets we set, we need to finalise the commitments in a legally binding agreement within six months. We should also commit to using the 2015 review process to assess the performance and ambition level of the individual commitments,” Jagdeo suggested.
Thirdly, he suggested that need for commitments of financial transfers to the developing world that match the scale of what needs to be done. He welcomed the announcement of recent days for a Fast Start Fund for the next three years and a 2020 target for significantly scaled up funding.
At a minimum, he said the immediate financing needs US$10 billion a year at a minimum and a firm commitment to take that to a minimum of US$100 billion a year from 2020.
He said that this is needed not only to finance the adaptation needs of the developing world, “but also because if we are to defeat climate change, we need to unleash the biggest wave of innovate the world has ever seen to stimulate energy efficiency, catalyse a global move to clean energy, and to redesign the agriculture and forestry economies in the developing world.”
Fourthly, Jagdeo said that there is need to resolve the form of the long term agreement and the monitoring, reporting and verifying of the commitments that countries make.
He said that all four issues could be resolved in the hours ahead if there is the political will to do so.
Mr. Jagdeo said that just as how the developed world found money to bail out banks and companies in the financial crisis, it can find the money to save the planet.
“This year has shown that when the world wants to act, the world is able to act,” Jagdeo declared.
Jagdeo ended his speech with a passionate appeal to world leaders. “We hold in our hands the well-being of billions, and when future generations look back on these days, they will not focus on brackets and the administrative failings of those who ran this process.
“And they will judge whether their world is one of opportunity and hope, or one of increasing conflict and climate disaster. That world, their world, is not predestined. It is being created by us at this time, in this city. Whether or not we let them down is entirely up to us.”

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‘There is no need for a toothless political declaration’

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