-but warns developing countries won’t accept unless big carbon emitters agree to cut emissions
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday joined United Kingdom’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband for the launch of ‘Beyond Copenhagen: The UK Government’s International Climate Change Action Plan.’
The Plan sets out what must be done so that the climate finance identified at Copenhagen begins to flow, commitments countries made to tackle their emissions are delivered, and new life is breathed into the quest for a legally binding international treaty.
The action plan asks developing countries to internationalise in a legally binding agreement the actions they take domestically and states that it would not envisage developing countries being subject to any punitive compliance measures.
This move is the strongest signal yet that rich countries’ attempts to sideline or even abandon the Kyoto treaty have failed, and that the negotiations will continue within the 192 nation UN climate change body and not in smaller groups of countries as the US and other nations wanted.
The move was immediately welcomed by President Jagdeo; but he warned that developing countries would not accept an agreement if rich countries which have emitted by far the most carbon pollution did not commit to further deep cuts in emissions.
Referring to the U.S., President Jagdeo said, “There are countries who stick out and clearly need to do more work. If the largest (developed) country emitter falls so far below the minimum, it makes it far harder for other countries, and you lose the element of justice and fairness”, he said.
“We hope by doing this we can take away the myth that developed countries were trying to destroy Kyoto…We are determined to unblock the negotiations. We are willing to offer a second agreement under Kyoto, provided there is a separate legal treaty covering all other countries,” Miliband said.
The plan sets out the belief that the low carbon transformation can be a major driver of economic growth and job creation – in the UK, in Europe and globally. It also makes clear that the U.K. is pushing for the EU to increase its plans to cut emissions in line with comparable moves elsewhere. The UK Government’s Climate Change Action Plan builds on the Copenhagen Accord, in which countries have put forward actions that, if delivered in full, would see global emissions peak before 2020.
In ‘Beyond Copenhagen’, the UK Government sets out its views on the way forward, making clear that they want to build on the strengths of the Kyoto Protocol, and are open to extending that agreement as a way of getting the legal deal that is needed, in favour of strengthening the UN decision making process that was frustrating at Copenhagen, pushing for the EU to increase its plans to cut emissions in line with comparable moves elsewhere, and supporting the EC’s work to identify the practical steps that would be required to implement a 30% target.
According to Miliband, “We’ve got to dust ourselves down and kick-start efforts to get a global deal, get the climate financing flowing and make sure the cuts promised by countries happen. We need to do this, not just for environmental reasons, but also for economic ones.”
The launch of ‘Beyond Copenhagen: the UK Government’s International Climate Change Action Plan, came hours before the first meeting of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Group on Climate Finance. That meeting was co-chaired by Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown and included President Jagdeo, among others.
This is key to helping poor countries adapt to climate change, to securing greater emissions reductions by developing countries, and to achieving a legally-binding climate treaty.  A legally-binding treaty is crucial for limiting global temperature rises to no more than two degrees.  But as negotiations restart towards this, the Government is determined to lock in the emissions reductions already agreed in the Copenhagen Accord.