Thursday 10 December 2009

Yvo to Tuvalu: I hear you

 Cherelle Jackson,Environment Weekly, Climate Pasifika Media

Thursday 10 December 2009, Copenhagen --  Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) today empathised with the stance of Tuvalu. De Boer said he understood the position of the small island country and Tuvalu’s demand for legally binding agreements.
"We have received in time five proposals for new legal instruments under the convention.  remains on the table and considered as part of the outcome of the conference."

Nobody knows what the outcome of this conference is going to be, we have heard people talk about political agreements, people are in favour of legally binding treaties. What Tuvalu wants to be sure of, is that their proposal    doesn’t fall off the table,

De Boer said it is within the interest of small island countries and all partners to the negotiations to ensure the the Kyoto Protocol remains. "I think the Kyoto Protocol will survive and must survive for a number of reasons."

Asked about the possibilities of a new legally binding agreement coming out of Copenhagen the UN said it may inevitably delay action by negotiating partners. "Generally it takes a lot of time for a new legal agreement to come into force. Kyoto Protocol took 8 years. If there is a new legal agreement, you can't guarantee how quickly it will enter into force, it will provide gab to any action." He says that Kyoto Protocol does not provide for market based mechanisms and it will only function after a new treaty is in force. "We don't want to see that stopping because of the Kyoto Protocol," he said A.ccording to him stopping now will not do the cause any good. "Many developing countries have pointed out that the Kyoto Protocol is the only legally binding agreement that we have to act on climate change. There is no good reason to abandon it." De Boer says the only improvement will come in a form of a new process that engages the United States of America and broader participation of developed countries.

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