Tuvalu, a tiny island in the South Pacific, threw a spanner in the works yesterday, which threatened to split developing countries at the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, now into its third day.
With tensions already running high between rich and poor countries, largely centered around emissions reduction targets and financing in support of developing countries, Tuvalu’s negotiator, Ian Fry, demanded yesterday that the meeting consider a Copenhagen Protocol which would bind large developing countries, such as China and India, to emissions reduction targets. Moreover, such a Protocol would run parallel to the Kyoto Protocol which would place demands on rich countries’ emissions reductions.
However, Tuvalu’s proposal was objected to by China, India and oil-rich middle eastern countries that do not want to be legally bound to meeting emissions reduction targets.
It is a no-win situation, because the U.S. and other developed countries have proposed that a whole new agreement be structured.
According to the U.S. Special envoy on climate change, Todd Stern, the U.S. is “not going to become part of the Kyoto Protocol so that is not on the table. If you mean taking the Kyoto Protocol and putting a new title on top of it, we are not going to do that either,” he said.
The U.S. is clear that China must take on binding and veritable commitments.
“The country whose emissions is going up really rapidly is China, you can’t ever think about solving this problem without China–you just have to do the math,” Stern said.
Tuvalu nonetheless received strong support from thousands of environmentalists at the Conference.
Along with other small island states, and some African countries, Tuvalu is demanding that global warming be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a tougher target than 2 degrees which is being proposed as a global goal by many nations. Tuvalu, 26 square kilometers in size and no higher than 4 meters above sea-level, with a population of 12,000, remains particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise from global warming.
Meanwhile, many believe that the two-week conference will fail to reach a fair, ambitious and legally binding deal on emissions targets. More likely perhaps, is a broad political agreement, with the details to be worked out later.
