Kyoto alive but only just, says church aid agency
-21/11/06
The Kyoto eco-action show
Kyoto alive but only just, says church aid agency
-21/11/06
The Kyoto eco-action show is still on the road, following the recent Nairobi summit ñ but only just, says the British and Irish churchesí development and advocacy agency, Christian Aid.
Against a backdrop of a host country, Kenya, that is already in the grip of climate change, the UKís Stern Review and increasingly terrifying scientific evidence, ministers from 189 countries have failed to agree a deal that corresponds to the size of the problem, observes the agency.
ìThere have been no steps backwards. Kyoto is still alive and kicking and the door is ajar to a new agreement in 2012,î said Andrew Pendleton, Christian Aidís climate change policy advisor. ìBut the final declaration from Nairobi leaves millions of the poorest and most vulnerable people in limbo and is a frighteningly timid response to a significant global problem.î
Delegates agreed that the negotiations in Kenya were sufficient to serve as the first review of the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol and set their meeting in 2008 as the date of the next review.
But they also agreed that this review ëshall not lead to new commitments [to cut greenhouse gas emissions] for any partyí, seemingly blocking any significant new deal within the next two years.
ìThe lack of vision and leadership from day one to day 11 of this meeting has been staggering,î declared Mr Pendleton. ìAlthough the deal is no disaster and demonstrates that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is the place where climate negotiations can hold together, unless there is a seismic shift in ambition between now and 2007, we will have to conclude that our current crop of politicians is not up to the challenge.î
He added: ìThis must be the last of these talks at which there is no clear mandate for negotiating the level of cuts in emissions that the science now tells us are necessary.î
ìIndustrialised countries have a moral duty to guarantee poor countriesí right to develop. At the same time, they must ensure that carbon emissions across the world decline rapidly,î added Mr Pendleton.
Kyoto alive but only just, says church aid agency
-21/11/06
The Kyoto eco-action show is still on the road, following the recent Nairobi summit ñ but only just, says the British and Irish churchesí development and advocacy agency, Christian Aid.
Against a backdrop of a host country, Kenya, that is already in the grip of climate change, the UKís Stern Review and increasingly terrifying scientific evidence, ministers from 189 countries have failed to agree a deal that corresponds to the size of the problem, observes the agency.
ìThere have been no steps backwards. Kyoto is still alive and kicking and the door is ajar to a new agreement in 2012,î said Andrew Pendleton, Christian Aidís climate change policy advisor. ìBut the final declaration from Nairobi leaves millions of the poorest and most vulnerable people in limbo and is a frighteningly timid response to a significant global problem.î
Delegates agreed that the negotiations in Kenya were sufficient to serve as the first review of the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol and set their meeting in 2008 as the date of the next review.
But they also agreed that this review ëshall not lead to new commitments [to cut greenhouse gas emissions] for any partyí, seemingly blocking any significant new deal within the next two years.
ìThe lack of vision and leadership from day one to day 11 of this meeting has been staggering,î declared Mr Pendleton. ìAlthough the deal is no disaster and demonstrates that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is the place where climate negotiations can hold together, unless there is a seismic shift in ambition between now and 2007, we will have to conclude that our current crop of politicians is not up to the challenge.î
He added: ìThis must be the last of these talks at which there is no clear mandate for negotiating the level of cuts in emissions that the science now tells us are necessary.î
ìIndustrialised countries have a moral duty to guarantee poor countriesí right to develop. At the same time, they must ensure that carbon emissions across the world decline rapidly,î added Mr Pendleton.