NAIROBI CLIMATE TALKS SET ‘SNAIL’S PACE’ AGENDA
11.20.06 - Leído 217 veces. Enviar esta notaUN climate change talks in Nairobi have ended in a deal which environmentalists have called “inching forward at a snail’s pace.”
NAIROBI, Kenia; November 19th 2006.- Nations present at the 11-day long international conference at the Kenyan capital of Nairobi managed to agree on all outstanding issues on Friday (17 November), but did not set a timetable for cutting carbon emissions or reviewing the Kyoto Protocol - the only global climate protection treaty in existence today.
“Governments are inching forward at a snail’s pace, waffling about when and how to negotiate instead of agreeing real action to cut carbon dioxide emissions,” commented Jan Kowalzig from Friends of the Earth Europe.
UN states previously agreed that the Kyoto deal should be reviewed at about this time as many of its targets still remain open for further discussion.
Developing nations fear that the review would lead to further requests from them however, such as binding emissions cuts, which might harm their economic growth prospects.
During the Nairobi talks, the developing states lobbied for a minimalist follow-up to the Kyoto treaty and managed to achieve this, with a modest review now scheduled for 2008.
Environmental NGOs say the delay could harm investment security for clean energy industries like renewable energy.
On the other hand, they welcomed an increase of some €300 million for the so called “adaptation fund” which aims to help poor countries to adapt to climate change between 2008 and 2012.
The EU is promoting climate change action as its one of its key priorities, with both the European Commission and the forthcoming EU presidency - Germany - placing climate as their top issues for next year’s agenda.
The current Finnish EU presidency welcomed the outcome of the Nairobi conference despite environmentalists’ criticism, with Finnish environment minister Jan-Erik Enestam saying “The Nairobi climate change conference has been a success and I congratulate Kenya on this achievement. The European Union has achieved all its main priorities and continues to lead the battle against climate change.”
“We came here above all to drive progress on adaptation issues and pave the way for strong further action to cut emissions, and that is what we have done. Now we need to ensure that action follows urgently,” he added.
(EUobserver)
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