A politician admits he was wrong

At last – a politician admits he was wrong

President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana told the international climate change negotiations in Poznan yesterday that he had come to Poland because “I was determined not to make the same mistake twice.”

He explained to delegates from virtually every country in the world that he was Minister of Finance when the Kyoto protocol was agreed, “and I paid very little attention to it.

“I failed to see that climate change is not just an environmental issue, but one which cuts to the core of social and economic progress everywhere. It therefore demands first order political commitment.”

He also came to Poland, he added, to press the meeting for incentives to curb deforestation and out of concern that the momentum for climate change was losing momentum as a result of the international economic crisis.

Jagdeo made his remarks in the conference's "High Level Segment" in which environment ministers and a few government leaders take it in turns to give a three-minute message.

Other points by ministers included:

* <bold>UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon</bold>: "Twenty years from now, let our children and grandchildren look back upon this day and say: 'Yes, that is where it began'" (<italic>thus illustrating the arrogance of most politicians and bureaucrats of assuming that an issue becomes important when it finally comes to their attention, ignoring the work of activists who have been championing the cause for years and who will largely be responsible for maintaining the momentum</italic>).

* <bold>Sri Lanka</bold>: The government has launched the world's first Sustainable Development Index, topped by Brazil, Sweden and Bolivia. It is also proposing the establishment of a Global Sustainable Development Bank, because the World Bank continues to invest heavily in coal-fired power plants and has  been unable to disprove allegations "that it was set up to further the business interests of the United States."

* <bold>Switzerland</bold>: every citizen of the world should have a personal co2 budget: a limited amount of co2 which he or she has the right to emit.

* <bold>Saudi Arabia, represented by the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources</bold>: There must be no policies that discriminate against fossil fuels, especially oil - "the call for moving away from fossil fuel consumption as a means of addressing climate change does not represent a practical alternative to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases". Fossil fuels are reliable and plentiful.

* <bold>Grenada, for the Alliance of Small island States</bold>: The world should not ask small island developing states to sign a suicide agreement that causes our homelands to disappear, especially when our contribution to this problem has been minuscule."

* <bold>Barbados</bold>: supports the call by the Alliance of Small Island States to limit long-term temperature increases to "well below 1.5 degrees celsius".

* <bold>Tuvalu</bold>: ''We do not want the Adaptation Fund to turn into all the other funds administered by the Global Envirronment Facility, where the only countries that can properly access the funds are the ones that can afford consultants and UN agencies to write lengthy and endless project proposalss and work their way through metres of red tape and surrvive lengthy delays."

* <bold>Germany</bold>: "We are not making any progress [at the Poznan talks] on crucial issues"; attempts are being made in some countries, including Germany, to exploit the financial crisis as an excuse to move away from climate protection. "We face one central obstacle on the road to a climate protection agreement in Copenhagen [in December 2009]: the question of financing."

* <bold>Maldives, for the Least Developed Countries</bold>: Urges a maximum temperature rise of 1.5 degrees celsius.

* <bold>Iceland</bold>: "Icelanders already enjoy almost 100 per cent climate-friendly electricity and heating: the next challenge is to convert mobile sources - cars and ships - to electricity or alternative fuels."

* <bold>South Africa</bold>: "We are disappointed that the G77 and China's [the group that negotiates on behalf of development countries] proposals on technology and finance have been met by a deafening silence.

* <bold>Slovenia</bold>: Poznan is the mid-point between Bali and Copenhagen. "How much work have we accomplished in this time? The answer is a little embarrassing. Ten, maybe 20, per cent." So in the remaining half of the time, 80-90 per cent of the work would have to be done.

* <bold>Federated States of Micronesia</bold>: "Back in the early 1990s a number of great nations literally scoffed at our warnings. Now, after almost 12 years under the Kyoto Protocol, little has been accomplished and the problem has grown much worse."

* <bold>US</bold>: A clean technology revolution has emerged that has the potential to dramatically lower the cost of combating climate change. (<italic>In other words, the problem will sort itself out, so don't come bothering us for money.</italic>) 

* <bold>Egypt</bold>: Egypt ranks among the top 5 most impacted countries by sea level rise with Bahamas, Suriname and Vietname after 2050 and therefore needs support from developed countries.

* <bold>Nigeria</bold>: "We are saddened that while the economically advanced countries, who are also the essential cause of climate change, are enjoying their affluent lives, we in the African region have been left to be ravaged by climate-induced hazards, such as desertification, erosion and floods, with increased burden of poverty. Unfortunately, what happened so far in this conference has clearly indicated that nobody cares about our survival."

* <bold>Bhutan</bold>: Even a two-degree rise will cause devastating impacts for Bhutan, as mountain glaciers disappear and rivers run dry."

* <bold>Bolivia</bold>: "Competition and the thirst for profit without limits of the capitalist system are destroying the planet."

* <bold>Antigua and Barbuda, on behalf of G77 and China</bold>: None of the six achievements the group wanted at Poznan have been achieved. A radical change of approach needs emissions cuts by industrialised countries, technology transfer to developing countries, and R&D on technologies that would enable countries to meet their development goals.