PORT OF SPAIN, Nov 28, (AFP) - Hopes suddenly rose Friday that a new global climate pact was within reach after rich nations attending a Commonwealth summit here offered to pay poorer countries to help seal the deal.
“Success in Copenhagen is in sight,” UN chief Ban Ki-moon stated, referring to the climate negotiations to take place in the Danish capital December 7-18.
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| This November 27,UN handout photo shows the joint press conference by the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Prime Minister of Denmark Lars Loekke Rasmussen at Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. AFP |
He and Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, both making exceptional appearances at the Trinidad summit despite not being Commonwealth members, stressed how encouraged they were by Britain and France offering to start a 10-billion-dollar fund for developing nations.
By showing willingness to meet “the need for money on the table,” it was now “realistic” to expect Copenhagen to result in the framework for a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012, Rasmussen said.
“Copenhagen will not be a talk shop,” Ban said. “We will come out with a very concrete foundation for a legally binding treaty.”The sudden optimism contrasted sharply with predictions of failure at the climate talks as recently as two weeks ago.
Much of that stemmed from a joint overture by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Commonwealth gathering, whose leaders represent two billion people, or a third of the planet's population.
The two European leaders proposed to compensate developing countries for the economic disadvantages they would face in cutting carbon emissions.
Britain said it had already set aside 1.3 billion dollars to be paid into the Copenhagen Launch Fund over the next three years.
“Poorer countries must have an understanding that the richer countries will help them adapt to climate change and make the necessary adjustments in their economies,” Brown said on his website.
“We have got to provide some money to help that. Britain will do so, the rest of Europe will do so and I believe America will do so as well.”Sarkozy, who was also specially invited by Brown to address the Commonwealth summit, did not say how much France would contribute.
But he told reporters the fund would operate for the next three years, beyond which an “ambitious mechanism” for continued payments would be established.
The willingness of developed countries to ante up bolstered other moves that suggested nations were determined to reach an accord.
Important among those were carbon cut pledges by almost all the nations most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
Commonwealth facts
The Commonwealth is a coalition of 53 independent countries committed to promoting democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and equality, the rule of law and sustainable economic and social development.
Based in London, it represents about two billion people of all faiths, races, cultures and traditions.
The organization is a legacy of British colonial times, with all members, except Mozambique, having direct or indirect experience of rule under the British Empire. Most have English as an official language.
Queen Elizabeth II, 83, has been head of the Commonwealth since her accession to the throne in 1952, although the position is not enshrined in law. She is also head of state in 16 Commonwealth countries.
Kamalesh Sharma, formerly India's high commissioner to Britain, is the current Commonwealth secretary-general.
Zimbabwe quit the organization in 2003 when President Robert Mugabe denounced it as “evil,” and a front for Britain “to enslave” Zimbabwe. |
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