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Commonwealth backs quick start climate change fund

Published: 29/11/2009 05:00

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The leaders of the Commonwealth backed plans for a quick start climate change fund in a communique issued on Saturday in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago.

Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L) and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attend a press conference during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port-of-Spain November 28, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

The statement also throws its weight behind the negotiation process for a global climate change agreement that is due to complete on Dec. 18 in Danish capital Copenhagen, five leaders told a press conference held on the second day of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

In the communique, Commonwealth leaders welcomed “the initiative to start a Copenhagen Launch Fund staring in 2010 and building to a level of 10 billion (U.S. dollars) annually in 2010.”

On Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told media here that he had proposed such a fund alongside British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, saying that it should pay out 10 billion dollars a year during 2010, 2011 and 2012.

The statement calls for 10 percent of this spending to go to mitigation in small island states which are in the front line of climate change problems due to rising sea levels.

The communique said that Commonwealth leaders believe “an internationally legally binding agreement is essential. We pledge our continued support of the leaders-driven process guided by the Danish prime minister.”

The statement drew an immediate welcome from the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“I am very encouraged by the shared desire for a successful outcome next month in Copenhagen,” Ban said at a press conference where four other leading figures — Patrick Manning, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamalesh Sharma, secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Kevin Rudd, prime minister of Australia, and Lars Lokke Rasmussen, prime minister of Denmark.

The Port of Spain Declaration, as the communique is formally known, also declared climate change to be an “existential threat” for key commonwealth nations.

“I leave Trinidad and Tobago fully convinced that an ambitious agreement can be reached in Copenhagen,” Rasmussen said. A total of 90 heads of state will now attend the crucial Dec. 17 and Dec. 18 closing meeting, he added.

Many of the Commonwealth’s members are small island nations which are those most vulnerable to climate change because rising sea levels is one of the first profound effects.

“The secretary-general, the prime minister of Denmark and myself met with the association of small island states member nations to come to terms with challenges faced by these countries,” said Rudd at the same press conference.

Rudd said that a key goal of Copenhagen agreement would be to set an international price for carbon, which will determine how much particular projects cost the planet.

The goal “is to set a new price discipline in the global economy,” Rudd said. “Until you have a carbon price it is very hard to take decisions.”

He added that there is no disagreement on the science around climate change, which says that world carbon dioxide must be kept below 450 parts per million and global temperatures must not be allowed to rise more than 2 degrees centigrade beyond preindustrial levels.

The CHOGM brought together 51 senior representatives from nations most of which were former British colonies. It also attracted leaders active in the climate change arena, including the president of France among a total of 5,000 delegates such as government officials, non-government organization workers, business people, media and representatives of youth organizations.

The Commonwealth’s Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said that the body’s structure, linking large powerful states to smaller ones, had allowed the nations most vulnerable to climate change to make their voice heard.

“Our respect for the small vulnerable has been shown in the past in economy and trade and is now shown when it comes to the environment,” Sharma said.

The 53-nation body represents around 2 billion people, although more than 1 billion are in just one member, India. Two nations are members but have not sent delegates — Fiji, which has been suspended due to a coup, and Nauru, which has been suspended due to fee arrears.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet

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