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Vague and ineffective – climate change agreement at Doha

Green groups and scientists say while a global treaty to address emissions by 2015 has been agreed upon, it does not go far enough.

“[It’s] a million miles from where we need to be to even have a small chance of preventing runaway climate change,”

Troubled UN climate talks spill over ABC News by Sara Phillips for ABC Environment Dec 8, 2012 International talks aiming to address global climate change have been extended amid fears they may collapse altogether.

Talks at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar,
aimed to finalise an agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions to
replace the Kyoto Protocol.

The key issues under consideration were the extension of the Kyoto
Protocol, which expires at the end of December, and aid for developing
nations who will be most affected by the changing climate.

The conference was due to wrap up late last night (local time), but
will now resume after talks stalled in the dying hours.

Dr Chuks Okereke, from the School of Human and Environmental Sciences
at the University of Reading, says tension between developing and
developed countries has delayed negotiations.

“The biggest stumbling block at the UN climate negotiations is the
tension between developing and developed countries,” he said.

“From the developing world perspective, the developed countries have
failed in their commitments on three counts: domestic emission
reductions; technology transfer; and, most crucially, finance.

“Climate change is ultimately a question of justice and those who have
contributed the most should assume responsibility in solving the
problem.”
The Kyoto Protocol, drafted in 1997, aimed to reduce the world’s
greenhouse gas emissions by around five per cent from 1990 levels by
the end of 2012.

Instead, global greenhouse gases have risen around 58 per cent in that time.

Green groups and scientists say while a global treaty to address emissions by 2015 has been agreed upon, it does not go far enough.

Lidy Nacpil of Jubilee South Asia Pacific, an alliance of
environmental and social justice organisations, says the wording is
vague and ineffective.

“[It’s] a million miles from where we need to be to even have a small
chance of preventing runaway climate change,” she said.  …..
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-08/troubled-un-climate-talks-spill-over/4416696

December 10, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change