ID :
82150
Mon, 09/28/2009 - 18:42
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Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/82150
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Thai PM calls for concerted effort to end deadlock on global warming
BANGKOK, Sept 28 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva urged world leaders on Monday to put effort into finding solution to setting a target for nations to cooperate in reducing the release of so-called greenhouse gases.
Representatives from governments, at least 20 United Nations agencies and hundreds of non-governmental (NGO) and civil society observers as well as activists gathered in Bangkok on Monday for the penultimate round of climate change negotiations ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, when 192 countries involved hope to agree on terms for tackling climate change beyond 2010, after the current Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
The task facing the assemblage in Bangkok is to thrash out a draft text for the Copenhagen meeting on the post-Kyoto treaty, but delegates are wrangling over the two key issues -- cutting carbon emissions and meeting the associated costs.
Mr Abhisit delivered a keynote speech to mark the opening of the two-week meeting which is part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
He said the meeting was able to renew society’s collective engagement on the issue of climate change at the very highest levels. He hoped that the political will and vision expressed by all world leaders in New York will now guide the negotiators and national officials carrying out the tough work on the road to Copenhagen.
"Our children and grandchildren will never forgive us unless (the right) action is taken. Time is running out,” the Thai leader warned. “We have only two months before Copenhagen."
The Bangkok Climate Change talks were preceded by the UN Climate Change Summit in New York on September 22, convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at which some 100 heads of state and government clearly called for a comprehensive climate change agreement in Copenhagen.
Leaders at the New York Summit called for a climate deal in December that ensures improved action to assist the most vulnerable and the world’s poorest people to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
They also stressed that ambitious emission reduction targets are required for the industrialised countries—represented by the G20 ‘haves’ as contrasted with the world’s poorest countries—as well as the need for nationally-appropriate actions to reduce the negative impacts on developing countries with necessary technical, institutional and financial support.
The leaders in New York reasserted that significantly scaled-up financial and technological resources and an equitable governance structure are required.
While negotiations are expected to focus on the five elements world leaders subscribed to in New York, areas in which some progress had been made at previous UNFCCC negotiating sessions and in which progress can be extended include: adaptation action, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest loss in developing countries (REDD), technology, capacity building, and institutional arrangements for finance.
One key focus will be to clarify further emission reduction commitments for the industrial countries. Important technical work under the Kyoto Protocol will be taken forward on issues such as land use, land-use change and forestry, identifying new greenhouse gases to be included in the Copenhagen outcome and defining base years for emission cuts.
Countries will continue to discuss which mechanisms can be applied to raise the willingness of industrialised countries to accept more just quality of life for all the world’s peoples. They will also assess the impacts emission cuts will have on developed and developing economies alike.
The gathering from September 28 to October 9 includes over 4,000 participants--government delegates from 177 countries, representatives from business and industry, environmental organisations and research institutions. The Bangkok meeting will be followed by five days of pre-Copenhagen negotiations in Barcelona from November 2-6. (TNA)
Representatives from governments, at least 20 United Nations agencies and hundreds of non-governmental (NGO) and civil society observers as well as activists gathered in Bangkok on Monday for the penultimate round of climate change negotiations ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, when 192 countries involved hope to agree on terms for tackling climate change beyond 2010, after the current Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
The task facing the assemblage in Bangkok is to thrash out a draft text for the Copenhagen meeting on the post-Kyoto treaty, but delegates are wrangling over the two key issues -- cutting carbon emissions and meeting the associated costs.
Mr Abhisit delivered a keynote speech to mark the opening of the two-week meeting which is part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
He said the meeting was able to renew society’s collective engagement on the issue of climate change at the very highest levels. He hoped that the political will and vision expressed by all world leaders in New York will now guide the negotiators and national officials carrying out the tough work on the road to Copenhagen.
"Our children and grandchildren will never forgive us unless (the right) action is taken. Time is running out,” the Thai leader warned. “We have only two months before Copenhagen."
The Bangkok Climate Change talks were preceded by the UN Climate Change Summit in New York on September 22, convened by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at which some 100 heads of state and government clearly called for a comprehensive climate change agreement in Copenhagen.
Leaders at the New York Summit called for a climate deal in December that ensures improved action to assist the most vulnerable and the world’s poorest people to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
They also stressed that ambitious emission reduction targets are required for the industrialised countries—represented by the G20 ‘haves’ as contrasted with the world’s poorest countries—as well as the need for nationally-appropriate actions to reduce the negative impacts on developing countries with necessary technical, institutional and financial support.
The leaders in New York reasserted that significantly scaled-up financial and technological resources and an equitable governance structure are required.
While negotiations are expected to focus on the five elements world leaders subscribed to in New York, areas in which some progress had been made at previous UNFCCC negotiating sessions and in which progress can be extended include: adaptation action, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest loss in developing countries (REDD), technology, capacity building, and institutional arrangements for finance.
One key focus will be to clarify further emission reduction commitments for the industrial countries. Important technical work under the Kyoto Protocol will be taken forward on issues such as land use, land-use change and forestry, identifying new greenhouse gases to be included in the Copenhagen outcome and defining base years for emission cuts.
Countries will continue to discuss which mechanisms can be applied to raise the willingness of industrialised countries to accept more just quality of life for all the world’s peoples. They will also assess the impacts emission cuts will have on developed and developing economies alike.
The gathering from September 28 to October 9 includes over 4,000 participants--government delegates from 177 countries, representatives from business and industry, environmental organisations and research institutions. The Bangkok meeting will be followed by five days of pre-Copenhagen negotiations in Barcelona from November 2-6. (TNA)
