ActionAid ‘repossesses’ rich countries’ embassies for climate debt default
Press Release, Thursday 17th December 09
ActionAid’s Climate Debt Agents today ‘repossessed’ the US, Canadian, Japanese and Swedish embassies, together with the Australian Ambassador’s residence in Copenhagen to symbolise their failure to pay their climate debts at the UN Climate Change Conference.
"The failure of rich countries to provide serious climate funds to the developing world or to commit to adequate emissions cuts means they have defaulted on their climate debt. Today we have acted to ‘repossess’ property from those countries for Bangladesh, Africa and the small islands most at risk from climate change," said Frans Mikael Jansen, General Secretary of MS ActionAid Denmark.
Rich countries owe poor countries a ‘climate debt’ for their excessive emissions over two centuries and the damage done to their populations by climate change.
ActionAid believes that as a first instalment of their climate debt repayment plan, rich countries must cut their emissions by at least 40 per cent against 1990 levels by 2020 and provide developing countries with at least US$200 billion (€132 billion) a year in public money by the same date to enable them to tackle climate change effectively.
So far only Norway has agreed to reduce its emissions by 40 per cent and no rich country has agreed to pay its fair share of the US$200 billion (€132 billion) required.
The US and Australia have to date agreed to reduce their emissions by only 4 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 – less than one-tenth of the 40 per cent cut that the science demands if global warming is to be kept below 1.5 degrees. Japan’s current target is for an 8 per cent reduction.
Canada is proposing to reduce its emissions by only 3 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 – even though its existing Kyoto target is for a 6 per cent reduction by 2012.
The EU, led by the Swedish Presidency, has agreed a 20 per cent cut, half of the 40 per cent cut that the science demands.
None of the rich countries targeted have said how much public money they would contribute to enable developing countries to cut their emissions and adapt to climate change.
