Barcelona: Africa puts pressure on rich countries

Wednesday, 04 November 2009 14:12

All meetings in one of the two tracks at the UN climate negotiations in Barcelona were Tuesday blocked by the African countries, writes the Danish daily Politiken.

The African countries demanded that the rich countries make further cuts in their CO2 emissions by 2020, than what they have offered so far. If not, they refused to continue the negotiations.

“We already feel the effects of climate change in the form of drought and flooding. For poor countries like ours it is difficult to handle. We appeal to the rich countries to lead the way and put some numbers on the table,” the Kenyan climate negotiator Grace Akumu said.

The NGOs understand Africa’s position

According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the industrial countries need to reduce their CO2 emission by 25-40 per cent by 2020 compared to the 1990 level to avoid that the climate changes get completely out of control. According to calculations made by the group of small island states, the rich countries’ proposal only leads them to a 11-17 per cent reduction. The US is also part of this calculation even though the American climate law has not yet been passed.

Kim Carstensen, the climate director at WWF, tells Politiken that Africa’s reaction is a sign of deep felt frustration, which is very understandable.

Blocked meetings resumed

After heavy activity, which included a two hour long meeting between the EU Swedish presidency and representatives from the African countries, a solution was found. According to Politiken, the solution means that the blocked meetings are resumed Wednesday.

However, Tuesday night, on behalf of the African group, Pa Ousman Jarju from Gambia underlined that during today’s (4/11) meetings, the group wanted clarity about the promised CO2 reductions from the rich countries – this included knowing how much the rich countries are going to reduce themselves and how much they plan to pay their way out of through climate projects and forest preservation in the poor countries.

Disagreement over the future of Kyoto

Behind the dispute lies the disagreement about the future of the Kyoto protocol and whether it will become part of a new agreement or not.

Africa fears that the rich countries are running away from their promises of a legally binding agreement, which is a view shared by China and the G77 group, which consists of 130 countries.

Chocked by Denmark

“We are truly chocked by the statement by the Danish Prime Minister, saying that the goal in Copenhagen is a political agreement,” said Pa Ousman Jarju.

The Danish government has made it clear that it does not reckon being able to finish a legally binding agreement in Copenhagen, but that this will have to be completed later.

However, the developing countries and the NGOs fear that the agreement will then never become anything else but a political agreement. They are worried about the fact that the rich countries want to replace the Kyoto protocol with one joint agreement. The reason is that the US is not part of the agreement, just like it does not commit the developing countries to any reductions.

Tried to calm the African countries

The current obligations of the rich countries expire in 2012. The G77 and the NGOs want to adopt a new commitment period under Kyoto, as this agreement is already legally binding. And they want the US and the developing countries to be part of a different agreement.

The EU’s Swedish presidency tried to calm the Africans yesterday. Swedish climate negotiator Anders Turesson told them that the aim is a new commitment period. However, he still maintained that the EU wants one joint agreement, but that it will build on the Kyoto agreement.

At a press briefing, the G77 underlined that they are prepared to make an effort to make a halt in their CO2 emissions.

Source: Politiken, Denmark