WWF: It's not over yet

2009-12-20 12:30

Cape Town - "They tell us it’s over but it’s not. The latest Copenhagen Accord draft mainly reproduced what leaders already promised before they arrived here."

These were the words of  Kim Carstensen, the leader of WWF Global Climate Initiative, about the climate draft that was agreed upon by 25 countries at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark on Saturday.

According to Carstensen the biggest challenge, turning the political will into a legally binding agreement, has moved to Mexico.

Another round of climate talks is scheduled for November 2010 in Mexico, where negotiators are hoping to nail down a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

"After years of negotiations we now have a declaration of will which does not bind anyone and therefore fails to guarantee a safer future for next generations.

“What was good about Copenhagen was the level of national pledges for climate action in most countries.

"Politically, we live in a world that agrees to stay below the danger zone of two degrees but practically what we have on the table adds up to 3 degrees or more." 

According to Carstensen a gap between the rhetoric and reality could cost millions of lives, hundreds of billions of dollars and a wealth of lost opportunities.

"We are disappointed but remain hopeful. The civil society will continue watching every step of further negotiations. The leaders have to get back to work tomorrow.

"Getting a strong outcome of the follow-up process will take a lot of bridge-building between the rich and the poor countries. We expect that the Mexican hosts will be ideally placed to play that role."
 

- News24