Black-Layne said that Antigua and Barbuda has been Chair of G77 and China for 2008 but would pass on the mantle to Sudan on December 31 at an official handing over ceremony in New York in January.

The Group of 77 and China provides the means for the countries of the South to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the United Nations system, and promotes South-South cooperation for development.

At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland, Black-Layne, speaking to The Daily Observer, said the delegation, “has done really well — it is not something that we can glorify — but I think that as chair we were able to guide the group well.”

Usually, Antigua and Barbuda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations H.E. Dr. John W. Ashe represents the country as chair of the group, while Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has the ultimate chair in the hierarchy, of which Ambassador Byron Blake is also a part.

“In general, when you are chairing a body such as this, Antigua and Barbuda cannot express its national position because the group would not trust you to give its [the group’s] position on its behalf,” Black-Layne said, when asked if leading the 137-member group conflicts with the country’s membership in the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). “AOSIS has another say in what happens as well but we just appear neutral so we are not at odds with them at all.”

Black-Layne posited that her country’s greatest success can be measured by the agenda items. “There are several key, heavy, important agenda items and the more consensuses we can get on those items, the better off the group becomes in terms of our negotiating weight,” she said.

“The developed countries, in this forum — it is them against us sort of thing — that is an informal view but they are debating their view and we are ours and we are trying to have a happy medium,” Black-Layne said.

The process of negotiations here in Poznan is intense, as developed and developing countries negotiate the different elements of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol for developed countries and the Bali Action Plan as laid out in Bali in 2007.

The Bali Action Plan set out a two-year process to finalise an agreement in Denmark in December 2009. This agreement will set out action to be taken by both developed and developing countries to combat climate change based on historical responsibility and in accordance with the countries’ common but differentiated responsibility.

“Many agenda items that we can get a consensus on would mean a success personally for Antigua and Barbuda because for it to control such a large group, Antigua and Barbuda would have to demonstrate that we do have leverage notwithstanding that we are small in every way (physically and financially, for example) compared to China, India and Brazil etc,” Black-Layne said.

Ambassador Black-Layne attributed a lot of Antigua’s influence within G77 to Dr Ashe, who she said, is a “really well known and highly respected” negotiator in New York. “It is because if his reputation that I think we are doing well in terms of where we are now,” she said.

“I can tell you [that] this year we got G77 agreement on some of the biggest issues for this Convention, such as technology transfer,” Black-Layne added, speaking of the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC). “We have a G77 position on a financial mechanism for the Convention, which is a big deal for us, and we have several other issues that are on the table now and that never had a consensus on before, that we hope to have a consensus on by the end of this Conference of Parties (COP).”

The G77 therefore sets out to have a consensus of key issues among its members, despite not being a voting body. For example, its members range from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Syria, to Indonesia, Samoa, Fiji and most Caribbean nations.

Forging agreements within the group is essential for the progress of any international negotiations and with so many diverse countries within the group, logistically, this poses difficulties, especially as each country has different national agendas.

Asked whether constructing protective sea walls around Barbuda’s coast would be an option to offset the impacts of rising seas, Black-Layne said: “No, it would not be economically feasible. Unfortunately, at the rate at which we are going, Barbuda will be fully submerged in the next 50 to 60 years.”

Black-Layne, Antigua’s former chief environment officer, was speaking exclusively to the Daily Observer at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland this week.

The IPCC ’s 2007 report has reinforced the urgency for developed countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, and the need for all countries to recognize they are not doing enough.

In his speech at the opening of the conference the IPCC chairman, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, said: “We need to consider whether the effort to limit the increase in global mean temperature to about 2C would be adequate, because sea level rise due to thermal expansion alone with this trajectory would be between 0.4 and 1.4 meters.”

“Add to this the melting of ice bodies, and we would have serious effects of sea level rise on low-lying coastal areas and small islands.”

Black-Layne says the future of the Caribbean and many islands is at stake. “For Antigua and Barbuda it means that our coastal zone is going to be flooded by the sea,” she said. “Tourism is 50 or 60 per cent of our GDP, and it exists mostly on the coast.”

This means Antigua will need somehow to protect its coasts, and besides building roads the government will have to build structures to protect the coastline.

They will no doubt be a major eyesore. “It will not be the beautiful island that you knew, that most people see in photos – that is going to change our tourism product,” Black-Layne said.

The negative impacts of climate change are much more than damage to infrastructure and nature itself. According to Black-Layne it will become more and more difficult for individuals and households to afford insurance – if they can get it.

Many businesses will not be able to get insurance because they will be in a flood zone, and boat owners will find it harder to insure their vessels because of the increased risk of extreme weather caused by climate change.

The Munich Climate Insurance Initiative says there are currently already economic losses of US$100 billion a year caused by climate-related natural hazards. Developing countries have the “lowest coping capacity and the highest vulnerability.”

Meanwhile, as the sea warms, coral reefs will continue to die off, impacting the local fishing industry.

Black-Layne said: “It is not that it is getting extra water from the ice cap, although that is also occurring, but as you heat water it expands. So the expansion of the oceans will be the primary cause of sea level rise.”

So countries such as Antigua and Barbuda need to adapt to the impacts of climate change. According to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adaptation is one of the two central approaches to tackling the problem (the other is mitigation – reducing emissions of greenhouse gases).

But the cost of adaptation will be high, and it is still unclear who will pay. The UN says $86 billion a year will be needed by 2015 for poor countries to adapt, and a UN Adaptation Fund has been established to help affected countries pay the bills.

The Adaptation Fund will be financed by a 2 per cent levy on projects in the Clean Development Mechanism that allows countries to invest in clean energy projects in the developing world in return for offsetting carbon emissions.

“Why are we here? We are here because we are trying to encourage those countries that are emitting CO2 (carbon dioxide) and have in the past emitted CO2 and have caused this problem to first of all assist us financially to adjust to it,” Black-Layne said.

“It is their responsibility and we are here to remind them of that,” she added. “The second reason we are here, even if we do get the money to adjust to the new environmental climate that we will expect, it can get hotter, it can get worse than that, and every year that we wait it will get hotter and hotter and hotter.

“What we are trying to do is get developed countries to cut back on their emissions so that the temperature rise we are expecting remains lower than two degrees,” Black-Layne said.

Climate change is real. We as a country need to be responsive to the effects that are brought about by the changes in the environment. In addition, bad environmental practices such as the unnecessary clearing of land and the illegal removal of sand from our beaches must avoid exacerbating the looming impacts of climate change.

Just a month before Antigua and Barbuda finishes its terms as Chair of the group, Ambassador and Chairwoman Diann Black-Layne cites consensus on the transfer of technology and key financial instruments as its main achievements.

Currently at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznań, Poland, Black-Layne, speaking with The Daily OBSERVER said the delegation “have done really well – it is not something that we can glorify – but I think that as chair we were able to guide the group well.”

Black-Layne said that Antigua has been chair of the G77 and China for 2008 but would pass on the mantle to Sudan on December 31 at an official handing over ceremony in New York in January.

“In general when you are chairing a body such as this, Antigua and Barbuda cannot express their national position because the group would not trust you to give their position on their behalf,” Black-Layne said when asked if leading the 137 member group conflicts with the country’s dual membership with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). “AOSIS have another say in what happens as well but we just appear neutral so we are not at odds with them at all.” Black-Layne said.

Black-Layne explained that the level of success achieved by the group can be measured by the level of consensus on agenda items: “There are several key, heavy, important agenda items and the more consensus we can get on those items the better off the group becomes in terms of our negotiating weight,” she said.

The Bali Action Plan set out the two-year process to finalise an agreement in Denmark in December 2009. This agreement will set out action to be taken by both developed and developing countries to combat climate change, based on historical responsibility and in accordance with countries “common but differentiated responsibility”.

Ambassador Black-Layne attributed a lot of Antigua’s influence within G77 to its usual chairman, Dr Ashe, who she said, is a “really well known and highly respected” negotiator in New York. “It is because if his reputation that I think we are doing well in terms of where we are now,” she said.

The G77 sets out to have a consensus of key issues among its members, despite not being a voting body. Its members range from countries such as the Saudi Arabia and Syria, to Indonesia, Samoa, Fiji and most Caribbean countries.

Getting agreement among the group is essential for the progress of any international negotiations and with so many diverse countries within the group, this poses difficulties, and especially as each country has different national agendas.

The importance of the Group of 77 and China is in providing the means for the countries of the South to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major issues within the United Nations system.