Africa - Walkout threat over 'Danish Text' in Copenhagen

December 11th, 2009

 

 

Johannesburg (South Africa) — Developing states at the United Nations (UN) climate change conference, including SA, were unanimous yesterday in condemning the "Danish text" - a draft proposal for a new climate change agreement presented by Denmark two weeks ago which was dramatically leaked in the media earlier this week.

Industrialised countries said the text was no longer an issue, but developing nations were quick to express their anger, and earlier yesterday it was rumoured the Africa group would walk out.

The Guardian website in the UK published a copy of the text on Tuesday and said it appeared to be the work of several countries, including the UK and the US.

The text would restrict poor countries from emitting more than 1,44 tons of carbon per person by 2050, but rich countries would be able to emit up to 2,67 tons per person.

It would also weaken the UN's role in providing climate finance and would force developing countries to commit to specific emission cuts and measures that were not part of the UN agreement, the Guardian said.

This would preserve the international status quo, with rich economies able to retain their dominance and poor countries unable to tackle poverty and grow gross domestic product.

Delegates from 192 countries are meeting in Copenhagen to agree on further commitments on climate change, but so far negotiations have proved volatile, with developing countries condemning industrialised countries' reluctance to take on ambitious reductions and offer substantial sums for developing countries to finance emissions cuts .

Industrialised countries have tried to persuade other nations to share the burden of reducing emissions. The European Union has even suggested that the legally binding Kyoto Protocol, which most countries excluding the US have signed up to, be abandoned in favour of a completely new instrument, which observers fear would further delay the process.

Lumumba Di-Aping, chairman of the Group of 77, of which Africa is a part, said the "Danish text" was a "total violation" of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as the only legitimate forum for negotiations.

He said the text would destroy the balance of obligations between developing and developed nations and the principle of common but differentiated responsibility , and charged that Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen was "desperate for success at any price".

"It denies the fact that developed countries have a historical responsibility for damaging atmospheric space, (and) it demands that a negotiated treaty kills off the Kyoto Protocol," Di-Aping said. The text suggested that 60% of the global atmospheric space be reserved for 20% of the world's nations, and would impair the fundamental right of countries to their economic development.

Parliament has joined SA's official delegation , saying the role of legislators in an agreement was critical, and that climate change should inform all policy making .

President Jacob Zuma will arrive in Copenhagen next week, along with 100 other heads of state, as pressure to agree on at least a weak deal mounts -- although SA, along with several other African nations, has rejected the notion that a deal should be signed at any cost.

The MPs' visit, and Zuma's , show SA is intensifying its lobbying efforts and that awareness is growing in government about the implications of an international agreement. SA added its protest against the Danish proposal.

"We have real problems with the Danish text," said Joanne Yarwitch, deputy director-general in the Department of Environmental Affairs. "It does not appear to be a two-track text and suggests a single-track outcome with (the Kyoto Protocol) no longer existing. It fudges a lot of things and collapses common but differentiated responsibility.

"We would have serious problems if the Danish text became the basis for a new agreement, and we don't think it will."

Yarwitch said the text pre- empted the negotiation process and betrayed a lack of confidence on the part of Denmark . SA is pushing hard for a two-track process, in which the Kyoto Protocol would be retained .

Taking part in a demonstration by African civil society, Waiganjo Njoroge, of the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change, said negotiations were impossible if a deal was already in place .

 

source.Business Day (South Africa) - December 10, 2009.