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(TALKZIMBABWE) President Mugabe leaves for UN climate change conference

President Mugabe leaves for UN climate change conference
Itayi Garande
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:56:00 +0000

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe left Harare last night for Copenhagen, Denmark, to attend COP15 - the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference that is expected to come up with strategies to curb one of the greatest challenges of the 21st Century, rising atmospheric temperatures.

The president will arrive as COP15, only a few days into its deliberations, is already showing a serious split over a draft final document meant for issue at the end of the two-week summit.

Negotiations between developed and developing nations with regard to agreeing new emissions targets are reported to have become increasingly strained in recent days, with reports developing nations walked out of talks in the Danish capital earlier yesterday.

The President, who is accompanied by the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe and several senior Government officials, among them Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi; Secretary for Media, Information and Publicity Mr George Charamba, will join over 110 other heads of state and Government at the historic conference.

They will meet with over 115 Heads of Government as they try to initiate the biggest change since the Industrial Revolution, turning the world economy away from an ever growing reliance on fossil fuels.

COP15 is the deadline for thrashing out a successor to the Kyoto protocol, with the aim of preventing dangerous global warming. It will run for two weeks from 7 December and is the latest in a series that trace their origins to the 1992 Earth summit in Rio.

Climate scientists are convinced the world must stop the growth in greenhouse gas emissions and start making them fall very soon. To have a chance of keeping warming under the dangerous 2C mark, cuts of 25%-40% relative to 1990 levels are needed, rising to 80%-95% by 2050. So far, the offers on the table are way below these targets.

Delegates hope for a deal on Friday that will ensure temperatures do not rise by more than 2C, and that hundreds of billions of pounds is pledged to help poor countries adapt to climate change. But tonight it appeared that many did not want to risk being pressured into signing an agreement they believe would be against their national interests.

"The industrialised countries want to hammer out a large part of the deal on the last day, when the heads of state arrive," one senior African negotiator told the Guardian on the condition of anonymity. "It's a ploy to slip through provisions that are not amenable to developing country efforts. It's playing dirty."

One added: "It is as serious a situation as it ever has been. It is more than probable many heads of state will not come if the negotiations are not complete. Why should a head of state come to sign an agreement that is basically a non-agreement?"

High level Chinese and Indian representatives indicated they would be in Copenhagen, but they made clear they wanted key points agreed before they arrive. They also appear desperate to avoid a situation where western leaders jet in and steamroller the main points on the last day of the conference.

Su Wei, China's top climate negotiator, said he hoped there would be no outstanding issues by the time his country's premier, Wen Jiabao, arrived. "I hope the only question we will leave for leaders is how to pronounce Copenhagen."

Indian representatives also said their prime minister, Manmohan Singh, would come to the summit, but emphasised the urgency of having negotiators produce a text in advance.

Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister, said: "We are saying that heads of state should not be negotiating a draft text. We must have a draft text already finalised. The heads of state should come to leave their imprint on the deal."

The UK's climate secretary, Ed Miliband, conceded there was some way to go before a workable deal was reached. "We're now getting close to midnight in this negotiation and we need to act like it. That means more urgency to solve problems, not just identify them."

One key point of contention is the US and EU insistence that emerging economies such as India, China and Brazil agree to peak their emissions by 2020. Developing countries argue that this would lock them into poverty.

Analysts say such hard driving tactics are typical of negotiations, but they resonate even more at the climate change talks, which are based on the idea that all 192 countries sign off on any agreement.

"This is a consensus process," said Janos Pastor, who heads Ban Ki-Moon's climate change team. "If they are really meaning that they are going to boycott, and if they are going to do that, it's serious. It would be a pity if a conflict meant that we don't reach an agreement."

Labels: AMAI MUGABE, CLIMATE CHANGE, MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 7:00 AM