RP delegates: No breakthrough but urgent action needed vs climate change
No commentsBALI, Indonesia—As the UN climate conference here enters the crucial last two days of negotiation, Philippine delegation leaders said they see no breakthrough in Bali but see progress as many countries push for commitments on mitigation, adaptation, transfer of technology and the financing scheme, into the “Bali Roadmap.”
“The window of opportunity for us to address climate change is here in Bali. But in this conference we see no resolution of the contentious issues such as commitment on emission target cuts,” Environment Secretary Jose Atienza, Philippines’s lead climate change negotiator, told BusinessMirror.
Though seeing no breakthrough in the Bali conference, Atienza said, however, that the Bali talks is setting the process for negotiations to create new commitments in 2009, after the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
“It seems that we will not reach a consensus here. We realize, however that the public wants to see concrete results out of the conference.
That’s why our negotiators are pushing for concrete projects and commitments that can be realized during the 2008 to 2012 period,” he explained.
On the other hand, delegates have also been split over whether the Bali Roadmap should explicitly stipulate legally-binding targets for carbon emission cuts for developed countries in post-2012.
The US has opposed negotiations to establish binding targets, insisting on a roadmap that is open and flexible. Meanwhile, the EU has insisted that the binding target be negotiated and included the roadmap.
Chief US negotiator HarlanWatson said they reject the call of UN draft resolution for a 2020 target for deep cuts in greenhouse gases by rich nations from guidelines for a new pact to slow global warming beyond 2012.
“We do support the Bali roadmap and the process here but we will not commit [to] any cuts yet,” Watson said, referring to a draft text suggesting that developed nations should aim to axe emissions of heat-trapping gases by between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
“This is a serious challenge for all nations. There is no exception whether highly industrialized countries or poor nations. We should equally be concerned because we only have one planet to save,” Atienza said.
Australia’s move in signing the Kyoto Protocol created a big impact on how nations view Kyoto. He hopes the US will also join the pact and lead all nations in addressing the irreversible impact of climate change.
“We urge the US to join and take a different tack and be open-minded in all of these issues; it is time for real united effort,” he said.
DENR Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio on the other hand, told BusinessMirror he sees the urgency of all nations to come up with a roadmap.
“It is very clear that everybody thinks that there is urgency in the action to address climate change,” Ignacio said. “Basically, international cooperation is necessary to address this problem [and] no one can be exempted. All nations, especially the rich countries, should be united in tackling the changing climate.”
Undersecretary Manuel Gerochi said the Philippine government and other developing nations support the IPCC report submitted by the world’s leading scientists, stressing that science tells us “time is running out.”
“We are one in calling other nations to act now and recognize the urgency of this issue. Delay means more destruction and the poor will suffer,” Gerochi said.
