SA climate team “trying to split poor nations”
The chief climate negotiator for the developing world has accused members of the South African delegation in Copenhagen of working to “disrupt the unity” of the G77 bloc, which represents poorer countries at the current climate talks.
Sudanese-born Lumumba Di-Aping was speaking at an ad hoc meeting, attended by about 100 representative of African civil society and government. Although organisers tried to prevent the meeting being recorded, it was tweeted and subsequently blogged by Adam Welz, media director for the 350 climate action campaign in Africa.
According to Welz, Di-Aping criticised many of the African negotiating teams for being unprepared, lazy or allowing themselves to be “bought off” by the industrialised nations. He singled out South African delegates for “derailing” the process by allowing the rich countries to dictate terms.
Di-Aping slammed the leaked draft of a secret proposal drawn up by an anonymous group of rich nations, believed to include Britain, the US and Denmark. The so-called “Danish text” departs fundamentally from the existing Kyoto Protocol by imposing stringent emissions targets on developing countries, introducing a new category of “most vulnerable countries” and sidelining the UN.
Di-Aping, who began his address by bursting into tears, called the draft proposal “worse than no deal”.
He said the acceptance by the developed world that 2 degrees of warming was safe meant “certain death” for Africa.
Quoting from reports of the International Panel on Climate Change, he said a global average increase of 2 degrees would make much of Africa 3.5 degrees hotter.
“We are being asked to sign a suicide pact.” – enviromedianews
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