PRESS CONFERENCE BY CIVIL SOCIETY ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS

 

World leaders, attending the summit on climate change convened today at United Nations Headquarters, were urged by several environmental groups to take positive action to support the forthcoming negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, on the second phase of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Hans Verolme, Director, World Wildlife Fund’s Global Climate Programme, addressing correspondents at a press conference, said the summit should send a very strong positive message that countries were ready to start formally negotiating at the Bali Conference to conclude a new agreement over the next two years that would significantly reduce polluting carbon emission.  He noted that the summit was the first since the 1992 Rio summit that Heads of State had gathered to talk about climate change and it was “quite an unprecedented show of leadership” by the leaders, at the invitation of the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“We know that there are questions about the future of the Kyoto Protocol”, he said.  In Bali, there would be negotiations on a broader agreement that would not only propose reductions in emissions, but also provide allocations of financing for vulnerable countries and technology transfers for developing countries.  There could be very significant extensions to the Kyoto Protocol and it would take two years to negotiate.  He said that, within that period, a very strong and positive signal could be sent to the financial markets that investing in clean technologies was indeed the way to go.

Meenakshi Raman, Chair of Friends of the Earth International, stressed the need for an agreement on “burden-sharing” principles between the industrialized and developing countries in avoiding climate catastrophe.  She said industrialized countries must cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2015 to enable developing countries to “have an environment space to carry out sustainable development policies in relation to poverty alleviation”.

She added that the radical proposal by German Chancellor Angela Merkle for a framework of action leading to equal per capita emissions by the middle of the century was a first of many steps needed.  She stressed the need for coherence in policies at the international and national levels, and action on the question of climate-friendly technology transfer and intellectual property rights.

P.J. Partington, Policy Director of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, said that young people needed to be part of the debate on climate change.  There was a groundswell in support for strong climate action, particularly among young people.  The discussion taking place at the climate summit was about their future and they would have to live with the conclusions of the Heads of State.

He said that, in three countries not represented by their Heads of State or Government at the climate summit –- Australia, Canada and the United States -- youth climate movements had grown exponentially.  In Australia, he said all 37 university campuses had linked groups campaigning for clean energy and Kyoto participation.  In the United States, the same was occurring on a vast scale and presidents of 400 universities had pledged to make their campuses carbon-neutral.  Canadian youth had founded an entirely new organization dedicated to climate change –- the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition.

Lo Sze Ping, Campaign Director, Greenpeace China, said the world leaders at the summit were the appropriate people to push for action on climate change.  They had the opportunity today to act decisively, show leadership and fully support the negotiations on the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol.  The most important action in Bali would be an agreement on global cuts in emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2015.  The industrialized countries would have to start by cutting emissions by 30 per cent by 2020.

He added that he would be speaking in the technology plenary of the summit and would talk about the technological approaches taken by China to combat climate change.  China was taking action, although it needed to do more.  “Right now, China’s actions are putting the United States to shame,” he said.  Chinese cars were more fuel-efficient than those in the United States.  He also noted that the United States was not meeting its voluntary targets.

He added that China had the capacity to develop wind power and solar power by 2020.  Quoting Greenpeace International, he said investing in renewable electricity and energy efficiency would save $180 billion annually, while cutting carbon dioxide emissions in half by 2020.

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