Over 100 Countries Call For A Decrease
By 1.5 Degrees In Copenhagen
By Marianne de Nazareth
18 December, 2009
Today is D-day, when all the leaders congregate in Copenhagen to either make or seal the deal. However according to a reliable NGO source, a leaked confidential document from inside the UN shows the cuts on the table in Copenhagen would give us at least a 3 degree rise.
Developing countries have made it clear that the real issue at the climate negotiations is emission reductions by developed countries. More than one hundred countries have effectively called for limiting warming to less than 1.5 degrees by reducing emissions.
At least 106 countries have agreed to positions submitted by the Africa Group, the Alliance of Small Island States, the Least Developed Countries Group and the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA). These countries constitute more than half of the Parties to the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen.
Bruno Sekoli of Lesotho, Chair of the Group of Least Developed Countries said today that "1.5 degrees is nonnegotiable - more than that means death to Africa. It will cause unmanageable consequences - it will leave millions of people suffering from hunger, diseases, floods and water shortages''
Ambassador Dessima Williams of Grenada, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, stated today that "The fact that more than 100 countries are calling for global warming to be limited to less than 1.5°C shatters the mythology that 2°C is an acceptable target, and instead highlights the broad consensus that climate mitigation goals should be based on up-to-date climate science."
Also speaking at the press conference were G77 Chair, Ambassador Lumumba Di-Aping of Sudan, and Mr. Kamel Djemouai of Algeria, Chair of the Africa Group.
Ambassador Angelica Navarro of Bolivia and a member of ALBA said: "How can it be realistic to condemn half of humanity? That is why Bolivia has called for limiting global warming to less than one degree centigrade."
The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report says that Africa will warm around 1.5 times the global average temperature increase. Therefore, average warming of two degrees globally could entail warming of around 3 degrees C in Africa.
According to Archbishop Desmond Tutu "A global goal of about 2 degrees is to condemn Africa to incineration and no modern development.... This is a moral issue, it is a matter of justice for especially the weak and most vulnerable..."
The Prime minister of Tuvalu H.E. The Honourable Apisai Ielemia said, “ We are talking about the survival of our islands. We don’t want to disappear, we have a right to live and exist as a nation.”
A response from the Greenpeace excutive director Kumi Naidoo was, “This is the single most important piece of paper in the world today. It shows in stark terms that the climate deal on the table in Copenhagen would put at risk the very viability of our civilisation on Earth. A three degree rise in temperatures means devastation for Africa and the possible collapse of the eco-systems that billions of humans rely on. This document pins world leaders on the table.”
Today is the last day left for the leaders to work a positive deal, otherwise they will be remembered forever as the people who consigned the world to a chaotic end.