ASEAN leaders urge rich nation over climate change

Yahoo News 22 Oct 09;

HUA HIN, Thailand (AFP) – Southeast Asian leaders are to urge developed nations to make deeper cuts in carbon emissions, underscoring the rift between rich and poor countries on climate measures, it emerged Thursday.

In a draft joint statement seen by AFP, heads of state from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said rich countries had a "historical responsibility" to act as well as the economic power to do so.

The document, to be endorsed at a summit that begins Friday in the Thai resort of Hua Hin, pledges support for a December meeting in Copenhagen at which 192 countries will attempt to hammer out a new global climate treaty.

The ASEAN statement urges industrialised countries "to take the lead" in emissions and make "deeper and early cuts on their greenhouse gas emissions to enhance implementation of their commitments".

It also says rich nations should "not negatively affect the sustainable economic and social development of developing countries" through their unilateral policies and "market-based mechanisms" to address climate change.

Recent negotiations in Bangkok to thrash out a draft of the global pact exposed the huge divide between rich and poor nations.

Developed economies have acknowledged a historical responsibility for global warming and most have put numbers on the table for slashing their carbon pollution by 2020 and by 2050.

But they say developing nations should also pledge to curb their output of greenhouse gases.

Poor and emerging economies have largely refused to set their own hard targets and many call for rich nations to make deeper cuts.

The ASEAN statement also calls for support for developing nations in dealing with the impact of climate change, which is high on the agenda after a recent spate of deadly natural disasters in the region.

Hundreds of people were killed and millions affected when Typhoon Ketsana tore through the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, causing massive flooding.

ASEAN groups Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar and Malaysia.