Gopal Ashtekar posted on Tuesday, December 15, 2009:
Africa emerges champion of developing world's cause
By Nitin Sethi
TNN
The Times of India
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Copenhagen: Under Kyoto Protocol, only industrialized countries are
required to undertake emission reduction targets for the second phase
starting 2012. (Watch Video)
For the past week, they have tried every trick to prevent talks at
the Copenhagen summit to progress on the front. They have instead
tried to push for a deal in the second track called the Long Term
Cooperative Action talks demanding all countries, including emerging
economies, to take commitments, of one or the other kind, to reduce
emissions as equals regardless of historical responsibility.
With just three days remaining for all practical purposes (day four
onwards the heads of states gather at the Danish capital) the African
groups frustrated at the way industrialized countries were playing
the game, have literally become the infantry for the developing
world's interests in the climate wars.
But other Latin American countries warned that attempts were still
being made to have discussions with select countries at the cost of
marginalizing voices of economically less important nations. Rumours
of dinner diplomacy between select developing countries with
industrialized nations and deals being cut on the side instead of in
the main negotiations had the smaller countries fuming on Monday.
The moral leadership at the Copenhagen meet was wrested by the
African countries on Monday when, in a show of strength and
solidarity, they stalled the climate talks and walked out as the rich
industrialized countries began demanding that the Kyoto Protocol be
set aside and discussions be held on only a single new track.
In short, Africa erupted in outrage when the rich countries refused
to provide money and technology to the poorer countries as enshrined
in the Kyoto Protocol. Under Kyoto, the rich are expected to reduce
their emissions too. Until now, the leadership in this fight has been
provided by emerging economies like India and China. On Monday, they
followed the African countries and staged a walkout along with other
G-77 members, barring a small ginger group of island countries.
With the climate talks hitting a roadblock, the rich countries have
relented for the moment and included Kyoto in the talks. However,
with barely 72 hours left to stitch up the details of a global
climate deal, for which world leaders are expected to reach
Copenhagen, Monday's face-off is hardly a hopeful augury.
Once the African nations had decided to give as hard as they were
getting from the industrialised countries, the BASIC four countries --
India, China, South Africa and Brazil -- rallied behind them. They
confronted the president of the negotiations -- the host Danes -- on
the seeming logjam. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh took the lead,
with the four key countries registering their protest that the
schedule of talks for Monday had been engineered in a way that
discussions on the Kyoto Protocol had been marginalized in favour of
industrialized countries' demand that negotiations on Long Term
Cooperative Action be prioritized.
The solidarity of G-77 forced the Danes to back down. Danish
environment minister Connie Hedegaard committed that the host country
would ensure only the discussions held by the negotiators, complete
or not, would be taken to the heads of states' meet for perusal on
Friday and that new proposals from outside would not be brought in
(something the developing countries had blamed the Danes earlier in
the talks of doing).
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Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
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AFRICA EMERGES CHAMPION OF DEVELOPING WORLD'S CAUSE 
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