Climate declaration 'inadequate'
2007-11-26 15:05
Kampala - The Commonwealth said on
Saturday climate change threatened the existence of small island
members faced with rising sea levels but it failed to back
binding targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
A statement issued on the second day of a summit of the club
of mostly former British colonies said the Commonwealth was
gravely concerned about climate change, which was "a direct
threat to the very survival of some Commonwealth countries,
notably small island states".
It said the cost of inaction would be greater than taking
early measures to counteract global warming.
But the declaration by the Commonwealth summit (CHOGM)
contained only vague language and lacked binding targets on
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, prompting Greenpeace
Executive Director John Sauvan to condemn it as inadequate.
"There is a complete lack of urgency, given the need to get
climate changing emissions under control ... and the
disproportionate impact of climate change on the world's poorest
Commonwealth members," he said.
The Commonwealth secretary-general, Don McKinnon, called the
agreement "quite a leap forward" although it stopped short of
the major statement that many countries had said they wanted.
Before the summit, Britain had called for an "unequivocal
message" and had urged developed nations to make binding
commitments before an environment conference in Bali next month.
The Kampala declaration stopped short of that, but did say
developed countries should take the lead in cutting emissions.
"No strategy or actions to deal with climate change should
have the effect of depriving developing countries of ...
sustainable economic development," it said.
Bali summit
The Bali meeting will discuss an agreement to succeed the
Kyoto protocol which aims to reduce emissions of the gases that
cause global warming but which expires in 2012.
Kyoto exempts developing nations, including major emitters
India and China, from commitments to reduce greenhouse gases.
Canada's conservative government said on Friday it would not
sign an agreement in Kampala unless it called for all countries
to reduce emissions.
The Commonwealth traditionally reaches agreement by
consensus and the need to compromise between Canada's position
and the demands of developing nations, especially island states,
may explain the vague nature of Saturday's declaration.
The Commonwealth Climate Change Action Plan called for a
post-Kyoto agreement to reduce greenhouse gases but spoke only
of "a long term aspirational global goal for emissions reduction
to which all countries would contribute".
Environmentalists sharply attacked similar non-binding
language after recent summits by the G8 industrial nations and
the Apec Asia-Pacific group.
A British official said the statement "does what we wanted
which is to continue ...to build momentum ahead of Bali."
But he added: "there is a question over whether CHOGM is the
right place to commit people to binding targets when we have
Bali around the corner. Some participants felt Bali was the
right place to discuss commitments."
Australia has been one of the Commonwealth states most
reluctant to combat climate change, but Labour Party leader Kevin
Rudd said after winning a general election on Saturday that
Australia would now sign up to Kyoto.
Ex-Prime Minister John Howard government's refusal to ratify
Kyoto angered Pacific island nations, including Commonwealth
members, who could be submerged by rising sea levels.
- Reuters