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The Greater Caribbean This Week
Climate: Change and the Greater
Caribbean |
By: Dr Watson Denis the Political Advisor of the Association
of Caribbean States.
The end of the year 2007 has been marked by two important
events relating to Climate Change. First, the High Level
Meeting called by the Secretary General of the UN, on the
occasion of the 62nd General Assembly of the organisation in
September 2007, and the UN Conference on Climate Change,
held in Bali, Indonesia, from 3 to 14 December 2007. Both
events are very important, given that the manifestations of
Climate Change are so alarming.
During the Meeting of September 2007, which was structured
into four discussion panels (Adaptation, Mitigation,
Technology, Deforestation and Mobilisation of resources),
representatives of the countries of the Greater Caribbean,
Members of the Association of Caribbean States, made their
voices heard. For example, the Minister of Foreign Affairs
and External Commerce of Belize, Mrs. Lisa M. Shoman, who
was representing her country and CARICOM, spoke in the panel
on Adaptation, and detailed a number of dramatic events
caused in the region by Climate Change. Also, she mentioned
the interdependence that exists between the environment and
the economy, and highlighted that many people living near
the coasts depend directly on maritime resources for their
survival. Overall, her speech was centred on human,
economic, and social vulnerability, which increase with
Climate Change. |
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Other political
figures of the region, some of them Members of the Alliance
of the Small Insular states (OASIS), intervened as well as
in the Meeting, in some cases to support the theme of
vulnerability, in other cases to argue in favour of the
mobilization of resources for adaptation to the Climate
Change, or to again remind that this phenomenon, which
causes many problems to the environment and human being,
renders the already poor countries even poorer.
For the Central American region, we refer to the
intervention of the government of Costa Rica, which set out
a list of sustainable development measures taken by Costa
Rica to protect the environment, such as the preservation of
27% of the land area of the country, the large scale use of
renewable energy, and the firm commitment to attain by 2021
an economy free from greenhouse gases. Already Costa Rica
has reflected on post-Kyoto, that is why it has begun to
combat deforestation. Consequently, it called for all
countries to take effective measures so that the efforts of
some are not lost in the inaction of others.
In this dialogue, Mexico adopted a position of principle.
Mexico declared that it will participate in and support all
the initiatives on Climate Change once they complement and
can advance the negotiations on the post-Kyoto 2012. It also
indicated that every country must act nationally and in
cooperation to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases,
according to its capacities, and its level of and need for
development.
One can consider that the Meeting in New York prepared for
the Conference in Bali, which brought together more than
11,000 persons, including 144 Ministers and officials of
Governments, about ten Heads of State and government, and
representatives of international organisations. Thus, the
Conference was one of the major events called by the UN to
discuss an ambitious project. Its fundamental objectives
were the establishment of norms, modalities, methods and
commitment for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
But all along, there was a fear of not reaching a
satisfactory outcome.
The sticking point was (and still is) the level of reduction
of greenhouse gases. The Kyoto Protocol demands that 37
industrialised countries reduce by 5% the emission of these
gases, from 2008 to 2012, in relation to 1990 levels.
However this agreement is not signed by a number of leading
countries. And in 2012 it will expire. So, it needs to be
replaced by another agreement, even more ambitious than the
first one.
The Indonesia document proposed objectives for 2020; that is
a reduction of 25% to 40% from 1990 levels. If European
countries agreed in principle to this proposal, other
countries, among them USA, did not, arguing that this
drastic reduction would reduce the development of its
economy. At the last moment, the 25-40% stipulation was
eliminated from the final text, in the hope that over the
next two years the talks would lead to a definitive
consensus on the question.
Moreover, if the Bali Conference had something clearly
positive it was the adoption of the Fund of Adaptation for
the most vulnerable countries of the world - including those
of the OASIS group - to help them finance their adjustment
to climate change. This fund falls under the direct control
of the Kyoto Protocol and the UN Framework Agreement on
Climate Change. These countries hope to have access to the
funds without constraining codes.
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