Developing countries set tougher targets
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G77 Chair, Sudan's Ambassador Lumumba Di-Aping
Negotiators from the G77+China group, which includes 130 developing countries, have submitted what they call their final negotiating positions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at its conference in Copenhagen.
They are demanding that in the next five to six years developed countries should raise 400 billion US dollars annually to enable developing countries to address climate change.
Increased funding
Ambassador Lumumba Di-Aping, chair of the G77, told journalists the G77 was demanding that developed countries should donate up to five per cent of their Gross National Product to long-term financing.
Appearing alongside Ambassador Dessima Williams, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Lumumba said: “We are united in calling for a financial mechanism for adaptation, mitigation and technology transfer that is accountable to all countries.”
The G77 is demanding far more than the 200 billion US dollars proposed by British economist Lord Nicholas Stern and agreed on by most experts as the amount of money developing countries need annually to combat climate change.
The World Bank has suggested that developing countries will need 100 to 700 billion US dollars annually.
The G77 wants the funds to come from governments, the private sector and international financial institutions, like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
But Lumumba pointed out that the G77 is opposed to the funds being managed by the Bretton Woods institutions, and that a special body should be created under the UNFCCC to manage and disburse the funds.
A G77 split?
Over the past few days there have been rumours that the G77 might split over differences in members’ level of ambition on targets to reduce greenhouse gases.
Brazil, India, China, and South Africa – known as BRICS – have authored a document in which they say they would prefer to have an agreement that limits global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial temperatures.
Other developing countries want an agreement that allows a maximum increase of 1.5 C, arguing that in most of their countries a higher rise will lead to devastating consequences for their poorest populations.
While acknowledging these different positions, Ambassador Williams said that over 100 of the G77 member countries support a maximum increase of 1.5 C.
Lumumba added: “We’re all united on the issue of saving the Kyoto Protocol and the Convention. It is significant because games of distraction being played by some seem to indicate avoidance of responsibility.”
Both negotiators stressed that the G77 remains united.
Other views
Some observers view the tougher stances of the developing countries as a bargaining chip aimed at getting developed countries to do more in reducing their emissions and pledging money.
Tom Sharman, from ActionAid, says his organisation is calling for rich countries to provide developing countries with 200 billion US dollars a year from public funds for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
But ActionAid and other civil society organizations insist that this money has to be additional to the development aid targets that have been repeatedly pledged by developed countries.
Dr. Saleemul Huq, from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), does not see different ambitions, particularly regarding maximum temperature targets, as a threat to the G77’s pursuit of a fair deal.
“These countries are diverse and therefore cannot have homogenous interests. But they agree on most issues and it shouldn’t be a problem for them to pursue bigger common ambitions”, Dr. Huq said.
Friday was supposed to be the last day of technical negotiations before the high-level talks involving ministers and heads of state began on 14 December. Many people, however, are convinced that the technical negotiations will continue well into the second and final week of the climate conference.
