Legal treaty for climate change wanted: CHOGM

Lim Ai Lee, The Star 28 Nov 09;

PORT OF SPAIN: Commonwealth countries, including Malaysia, have agreed to press for a legally binding treaty to be implemented during the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen.

The decision was made at a special session on climate change held after the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) here, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, were invited as guests to give their views at the session on Friday. The Commonwealth has 53 member countries.

The Prime Minister, who also participated in the debate, said Malaysia felt it was timely for member countries to make a firm commitment during Chogm to ensure the success of the Copenhagen Summit less than three weeks away.

He added it would be difficult to get a commitment from some countries, especially developed countries, to act with just a political agreement.

During the Chogm session, Sarkozy had called for a World Environmental Organisation to be set up as the Kyoto Protocol - where 37 industrialised countries had committed themselves to a reduction of greenhouse gases - did not provide for a supervisory body.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown proposed the setting up of a US$10bil (RM33.92bil) fund over a period of three years to help small developing island states. Globally, these islands have the highest ratio of economic losses from disasters and other climate impacts although they did not contribute to global warming.

The fund is to be used for mitigation against environmental disasters and adaptation of technology to reduce carbon emission.

During the debate, Najib said there should not be too many conditions set for the fund as this would hamper efforts to help affected countries.

He also urged countries not to set aside the declarations of the Kyoto Protocol which contained many fundamental principles that had been agreed upon earlier.

On reports that Sarkozy had hijacked Chogm to talk on global warming, Najib said this was not the case as climate change was a main issue at Chogm.

“Many Commonwealth countries are victims of climate change. Some have said that if global warming continues, small island states might totally sink. For many of them, this is a matter of life and death," he said.

Earlier, when opening Chogm 2009 in the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, Head of Commonwealth Queen Elizabeth said the environmental threat was now a global challenge which would affect security and stability in the years ahead.

She pointed to the fact that most of the countries under threat were the most vulnerable and least able to withstand the adverse effects of climate change.

Commonwealth throws weight behind climate talks
Marc Burleigh Yahoo News 28 Nov 09;

PORT OF SPAIN (AFP) – Commonwealth leaders representing two billion people on Saturday threw their combined weight behind upcoming climate talks, driving momentum towards a new carbon-cutting treaty.

"We, as the Commonwealth, representing one third of the world's population, believe the time for action on climate change has come," Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said as he unveiled an agreement struck at a summit in Trinidad.

The Port of Spain Climate Change Consensus, backed by all 53 member states of the Commonwealth, supports the December 7-18 climate talks in Copenhagen and commits to seeking a legally binding treaty in 2010 that would set targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions.

It also upheld the adoption of clean energy, a carbon-credits trading scheme and the need for wealthier countries to pay developing nations to help them bear the economic costs of implementing environmentally friendly policies.

The statement was another boost for the Copenhagen talks, which only recently had been forecast to fail by several officials.

In the past two weeks though, major polluters the United States, China and Brazil have all come forward with numerical carbon-reducing goals to be presented at the talks.

India, the only major nation yet to provide a target, said it was also preparing figures.

High-profile leaders, including US President Barack Obama, have also said they would travel to Copenhagen.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, who will host the talks, said: "I remain fully convinced that it will be possible to reach an agreement in Copenhagen." At least 90 leaders will be attending.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, too, hailed the "momentum for success."

But he cautioned work still had to be done to seal an accord.

"We are united in purpose, we are not yet united in action," he said, urging world leaders "to stay focused, stay committed and come to Copenhagen."

The Commonwealth consensus statement hailed an initial 10-billion-dollar-a-year fund that from 2010 would help pay "vulnerable countries," notably small island states, to sign on to a climate treaty. It would also help slow deforestation and finance technology transfer.

The fund was advocated at the summit by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who pledged 1.3 billion dollars to it over the next three years, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was there as a special guest at Brown's invitation.

Rudd said the Commonwealth climate change statement was "one further significant step... and we believe the political goodwill and resolve exists to secure a comprehensive agreement at Copenhagen."

The foundations were coming together to achieve a "comprehensive, substantial and operationally-binding agreement" in the Copenhagen talks, he said.

Commonwealth summit host Prime Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma emphasized that the diversity of the Commonwealth -- whose members count rich nations Britain and Canada as well as small states such as the Maldives -- was valuable in closing differences ahead of Copenhagen.

"The Commonwealth's strength is the quality of voice it gives to everyone," Sharma said.

The consensus text, however, showed some divergences remained, notably on whether global temperature increases should be constrained to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 degrees Fahrenheit) or to no more than two degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Such a range could mean the difference between survival and catastrophe for low-lying island states threatened by flooding from global warming.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday that his country's carbon emission cut targets, when unveiled, would be "ambitious," though conditional on other countries also taking up the burden.

India and other major developing countries such as Brazil contend that rich countries are historically responsible for global warming and thus should fund emission cuts in poorer nations.

Commonwealth builds momentum for climate deal
Pascal Fletcher, Reuters 28 Nov 09;

PORT OF SPAIN (Reuters) - Commonwealth nations representing one-third of the world's population threw their weight behind accelerating efforts to clinch an "operationally binding" U.N. climate deal in Copenhagen next month, their leaders said on Saturday.

Leaders of the 53-nation Commonwealth meeting in Trinidad and Tobago used their summit to bolster a diplomatic offensive seeking wide consensus on how to fight global warming ahead of December 7-18 U.N. climate talks in the Danish capital.

"We believe ... the time for action on climate change has come. The clock is ticking to Copenhagen ... we believe that the political goodwill and resolve exists to secure a comprehensive agreement at Copenhagen," Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told a news conference in Port of Spain.

The Commonwealth Climate Change Declaration pledged the group's backing for Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen in his efforts to secure wide attendance and commitment from world leaders at the Copenhagen climate talks.

"We pledge our continued support to the leaders-driven process ... to deliver a comprehensive, substantial and operationally binding agreement in Copenhagen leading toward a full legally binding outcome no later than 2010," the Port of Spain declaration said.

Tackling the issue of funding for poor nations' efforts to fight climate change and global warming, the Commonwealth also backed an initiative to establish a Copenhagen Launch Fund, starting in 2010 and building to $10 billion annually by 2012.

Rasmussen and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who joined the Commonwealth leaders' discussions in Port of Spain, welcomed the declaration from the group.

Ban said world leaders should "stay focused, stay committed and come to Copenhagen to secure a deal."

Rasmussen said 89 heads of state and government had so far advised they would attend next month's talks in Copenhagen, and Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister and the Commonwealth summit's host, Patrick Manning, announced he would be there too, bringing the total expected number to 90.

While next month's U.N. talks are not expected to result in the immediate approval of a detailed climate treaty, the wording of the Commonwealth climate declaration made clear its leaders expected any deal reached in Copenhagen would be "operationally binding" and lead fast to a definitive treaty.

U.N. chief Ban has said an agreement to lay the foundation for such a legally binding accord is now "within reach."

The deal the United Nations is aiming for in Copenhagen would cover tougher emissions targets, climate financing for poorer nations and transfer of clean-energy technology.

The climate treaty, expected to be adopted as a final text next year, will replace the Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012.

"FAST START FUNDING"

Commonwealth leaders suggested that 10 percent of the proposed $10 billion-a-year Copenhagen Launch Fund should be channeled to small island states most at risk from rising sea levels caused by global warming.

Nearly half of the Commonwealth's members are small island states, and developing nations have been appealing for hefty financial aid from rich governments to help them counter climate change and reduce carbon pollution.

The Commonwealth put at the forefront of the climate debate the cases of tiny island states like the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and Tuvalu and Kiribati in the Pacific, whose existence would be threatened by swelling ocean levels.

Earlier, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed welcomed the backing of the Commonwealth's developed countries -- Britain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand -- for the proposed "fast start funding" seen as essential for any climate deal.

"I believe the Commonwealth understands our predicament more than the others ... they have put concrete things on the table," he told Reuters.

On Friday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for the creation of the $10 billion-a-year fund, arguing such financing should be made available as early as next year, well before any new climate deal takes effect.

The idea was also backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also attended the Commonwealth summit as an invited guest to lobby in support of a climate deal.

Prospects for achieving a broad political framework pact in Copenhagen next month were brightened this week by public promises of greenhouse gas curbs by China and the United States, the world's biggest emitters.