UN environment chief rejects any talking down of climate summit
Comments offAmid growing fears that a legally binding deal to tackle climate change cannot be signed at the UN conference underway in Copenhagen, the head of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) is optimistic that a deal is within reach.
Despite the willingness demonstrated by some countries to cut carbon emissions, the possibility of signing a binding deal remained cloudy.
Some countries are alleged to be trying to come up with an alternative set of negotiation documents which some analysts say are meant to derail the whole process and lead to a non-binding decision.
In an exclusive interview the UNEP’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner said fears of possible failure to reach agreement in the climate change negotiations are unfounded.
“This is just speculation,” said Steiner. “What the United Nations Environmental Programme and Lord Nicholas Stern said in their report is just the opposite – that a deal is within reach and perfectly feasible.”
He said the voluntary actions that developing countries have announced in recent days mean that global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are close to what is needed.
Steiner said that anyone who wants to talk down the prospects of success at the summit may be doing so for their own reasons rather than in view of what is on the table.
Steiner did not rule out the possibility that the meeting could go wrong however.
“There are high risks that this summit can go wrong,” he said. “There are many reasons why countries disagree and obviously there is still a need for some of these negotiations to be underpinned with actual commitment.”
“For example, the financial and technology partnership package which is on the table right now is inadequate but we have 10 days to correct that,” he said.
The fact that over a hundred heads of state and government are coming to the summit is a signal that a political deal in the making.
“Why else could we bring 15,000 people to Copenhagen and over 100 heads of states?” he said. “I mean we cannot waste the world’s time by just sitting and disagreeing.”
“The fact that Copenhagen has become a leaders’ summit is also a reflection of the mounting pressure and expectation of people across the world.”
Steiner said Africa desperately needs a deal because of the enormous threat climate change poses, the urgent support that Africa needs and the opportunities to invest in the green economy on the continent.
“As we focus on the emissions and big players, we must not forget that there are 120 developing economies that are largely going to be victims and have to deal with the outcomes of Copenhagen,” said Steiner.
“It is also important to have African voices say loud and clear that adaptation [to climate impacts] is in itself a major challenge from the economic and policy point of view.”
Meanwhile developing countries are extremely uneasy about the leaked proposal which the Danish government prepared outside of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (see Secret text at Copenhagen climate-change talks enrages developing nations).
Asked to comment on the alleged document, Steiner said that anyone who wants simply to ignore the Kyoto Protocol will run into political difficulties because the protocol reflects fundamental political agreements that have kept the climate change negotiation process going to date.
