Africa - Green fund proposed for the poor in Copenhagen

December 11th, 2009

 

 

Copenhagen (Denmark) - Four nations have proposed a "green fund" to break a deadlock on ways to raise and manage billions of dollars at climate talks in Copenhagen. "There is an initiative from Britain, Australia, Mexico and Norway, not on the amount but about how we see the structure of finance in a new agreement," said Hanne Bjurstroem, Norwegian delegation head.

A British official said the document would look at ideas for a green fund for developing nations, partly to help them adapt to climate changes such as floods, droughts, rising sea levels and species extinction.

Mexico has in the past suggested that all countries pay into a fund to be distributed to the poor. Norway proposes that some carbon emission allowances be auctioned off to raise cash for poor nations.

Meanwhile, a draft agreement secretly circulated to selected countries by Denmark, which alienates and weakens the role of the UN and abandons the Kyoto Protocol, dampened hopes of the long-awaited Copenhagen deal.

The document was circulated to the United States, Australia and United Kingdom delegates, according to sources in Copenhagen.

Negotiators from developing nations were furious after the UK's Guardian newspaper posted the document on its website.

Lumumba Di-Aping, chair of the biggest team of developing nations, the Group of 77 and China, told reporters his group will not allow "another rape against poor countries".

The leaked agreement allows rich countries to emit twice as much carbon as poor countries.

But, UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said in a written response to the issue: "This was an informal paper ahead of the conference given to a number of people for the purposes of consultations. The only formal texts in the UN process are the ones tabled by the chairs of this Copenhagen conference at the behest of the parties."

At the same time, a study released yesterday says the impacts of climate change have worsened almost every year since 1980.

The study is inspired by the Dow Jones stock index that distils global warming into a single number.

The new climate change index is based on world temperatures, Arctic sea ice extent in summer, and concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and sea levels, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) said.

"The climate system is changing in the direction of a warming planet," Sybil Seitzinger, executive director of the IGBP, told a news conference on the sidelines of the Copenhagen conference.

The index went back to 1980, when satellite records begin.

According to the index, climate change got worse every year since 1980 except 1982, 1992 and 1996, perhaps because large volcanic eruptions those years threw sun-dimming dust high into the atmosphere and curbed temperatures.

 

source.The Nation (Kenya) - December 10, 2009.