Climate talks: a lost opportunity for world’s poor
(Barcelona, 06/11/09): The poorest battling the effects of climate change now will be hit hardest by the latest news that no fair deal will be reached in Copenhagen.“The poorest communities in the world are battling the effects of climate change yet they have done nothing to create this problem," said Elias Mtinda, food rights advisor with ActionAid Tanzania.
“They are the ones suffering now as they struggle to find water for themselves, their crops and their animals," he said.
"We will not sit back and allow developed countries avoid their responsibility any more,” he added.
A political deal may be approved in Copenhagen but there is now no chance of a just and legally binding agreement and negotiations are likely to continue next year."If a just deal is to be reached in Copenhagen, rich countries must dedicate new and additional finance to help developing countries adapt to climate change," said Anne-Catherine Claude, ActionAid's EU policy officer.
ActionAid estimates that at least US $100 billion (€66 billion) a year in public funds is needed by 2020 for adaptation. But developed countries are refusing to pay their climate debt. Even worse, rich countries have attempted to shift the burden of paying for climate change onto the world’s poorest.
Rich countries must also cut emissions by at least forty per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 and by more than ninety per cent by 2050, if a just deal is to be reached.
With the exception of Norway, developed countries have not yet been willing to make this urgent commitment.
“The lack of progress in Barcelona will make success in Copenhagen much more difficult,” said Nobuntu Mbelle, international policy advisor for ActionAid in South Africa. "Developing countries cannot afford a bad deal in Copenhagen. We demand climate justice now!”
