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Watson
R Denis
mail@acs-aec.org
Climate
change and Greater Caribbean
The
end of the year has been marked by two important events
relating to climate change. First was the high-level meeting
called by the Secretary General of the UN, on the occasion
of the 62nd General Assembly of the organisation in September,
then the UN Conference on Climate Change, held in Bali,
Indonesia, from December 3 to 14. Both events are very important,
given that the manifestations of climate change are so alarming.
During the September meeting, which was structured into
four discussion panels (adaptation, mitigation, technology,
deforestation and mobilisation of resources), representatives
of the countries of the Greater Caribbean, members of the
Association of Caribbean States, made their voices heard.
For example, Belize’s Foreign Affairs and External
Commerce Minister, Lisa M Shoman, who was representing her
country and Caricom, spoke in the panel on adaptation and
detailed a number of dramatic events caused in the region
by climate change. Also, she mentioned the interdependence
that exists between the environment and the economy, and
highlighted that many people living near the coasts depend
directly on maritime resources for their survival.
Overall, her speech was centred on human, economic, and
social vulnerability, which increase with climate change.
Other political figures of the region, some of them members
of the Alliance of the Small Insular States (Oasis), intervened
as well in the meeting, in some cases to support the theme
of vulnerability, in other cases to argue in favour of the
mobilisation of resources for adaptation to the climate
change, or to again remind that this phenomenon, which causes
many problems to the environment and human beings, renders
the already poor countries even poorer.
For the Central American region, we refer to the intervention
of the Government of Costa Rica, which set out a list of
sustainable development measures taken by Costa Rica to
protect the environment, such as the preservation of 27
per cent of the land area of the country, the largescale
use of renewable energy, and the firm commitment to attain
by 2021 an economy free from greenhouse gases.
Already Costa Rica has reflected on post-Kyoto and has begun
to combat deforestation. Consequently, it called for all
countries to take effective measures so that the efforts
of some are not lost in the inaction of others.
In this dialogue, Mexico adopted a position of principle.
It declared that it will participate in and support all
the initiatives on climate change once they complement and
can advance the negotiations on the post-Kyoto 2012. It
also indicated that every country must act nationally and
in co-operation to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases,
according to its capacities and its level of and need for
development.
One can consider that the meeting in New York prepared for
the conference in Bali, which brought together more than
11,000 people, including 144 ministers and officials of
governments, about ten heads of state and government, and
representatives of international organisations. Thus, the
conference was one of the major events called by the UN
to discuss an ambitious project.
Its fundamental objectives were the establishment of norms,
modalities, methods and commitment for the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions. But all along there was a fear
of not reaching a satisfactory outcome.
The sticking point was (and still is) the level of reduction
of greenhouse gases. The Kyoto Protocol demands that 37
industrialised countries reduce by five per sent the emission
of these gases, from 2008 to 2012, in relation to 1990 levels.
However this agreement is not signed by a number of leading
countries. And in 2012 it will expire. So it needs to be
replaced by another agreement, even more ambitious than
the first.
The Indonesia document proposed objectives for 2020, that
is, a reduction of 25-40 per cent from 1990 levels. If European
countries agreed in principle to this proposal, other countries,
among them the US, did not, arguing that this drastic reduction
would reduce the development of its economy. At the last
moment, the 25-40 per sent stipulation was eliminated from
the final text, in the hope that over the next two years
the talks would lead to a definitive consensus on the question.
Moreover, if the Bali conference had something clearly positive
it was the adoption of the Fund of Adaptation for the most
vulnerable countries of the world—including those of
the Oasis group—to help them finance their adjustment
to climate change. This fund falls under the direct control
of the Kyoto Protocol and the UN Framework Agreement on
Climate Change. These countries hope to have access to the
funds without constraining codes.
n Dr Watson Denis is the political adviser of
the Secretariat of the Association of Caribbean
States. The opinions expressed are not necessarily
the official opinions of the ACS. Any correspondence
or feedback may be sent to mail@acs-aec.org
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