Dec. 9: The negotiations at climate change conference in Copenhagen appear headed for a roadblock as the so-called Danish text was leaked to the Guardian website and G-77+China group said it would reject this attempt to "violate the sanctity of talks." India said it would not let the draft be admitted as a last minute document, though at the moment it was a "non-issue."
The text, supposed to have been put forward by Denmark, the UK and the US seeks to get developing countries to agree to specific emission cuts which were not part of the earlier agreements. It also seeks to put the World Bank more in charge of regulatory control for climate change cuts rather than United Nations, which has been in the forefront of climate talks. The text was shown to only few countries before it was leaked.
"It’s a very serious violation of the Kyoto Protocol and the UN Framework Convention, attempting to destroy both," said the Sudanese chair of G-77 and China Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping. He called the text "unacceptable" but stopped short of saying the group will walk out if it was forced down on others. "We will not walk out, but we will not sign an inequitable deal. We will not accept a deal which would further increase the suffering and injustice on 80 per cent of the world population."
India’s negotiating team leader Shyam Saran told reporters the draft was a "non-issue" at the moment because it had not been officially placed on the table. But he was certain that such a draft would not be allowed to be placed towards the end of the negotiating period. "There’s no way we will allow such a move."
The executive secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Yvo de Boer said the text was a draft paper put forward by the Danish Prime Minister for purposes of consultations. "The only formal texts in the UN process are the ones tabled by the Chairs of this Copenhagen conference at the behest of the Parties," Mr Boer said in a statement.
The portion found most galling by many representatives of the developing nations was that by 2050 poor countries would have to limit their per capita emissions at 1.44 tonnes, while rich countries would be given extra leeway at 2.67 tonnes per capita.
On Monday, Copenhagen meeting’s president Connie Hedegaard, who’s the Danish climate minister, had denied that the country had circulated the text, saying there were several texts in circulation by various parties.
Mr Di-Aping said the Danish text exists, and it sought to "superimpose a solution on the political leaders by doing away with efforts of the last two years."
The Bella Centre was also hit by its first protest, from a group called the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, which claims to represent non-governmental organisations from all across the continent. The dozens of protesters were shouted slogans against the Danish text, saying developed nations were trying to divide Africa. The protests became more vocal just outside the media centre, attracting dozens of TV crews and reporters. The Alliance representative Justine Njmashi said that attempts were being made to buy individual African countries and this would not be "allowed to happen again." He said separate meetings were being planned by developed nati-ons with some African countries to make them accept the text.
Antonio Hill, climate policy adviser for Oxfam International, the UK-based group fighting against poverty said the text "highlights the risk when big countries get together, the small ones get hurting." He said the text must not be allowed to distract from the job at hand. According to him, it also "falls far short of emission cuts needed and remains vague on climate cash."
Kim Carstensen, leader of world wildlife fund’s global climate initiative, said text reflected the behind the scenes negotiations tactics of the Danish presidency. "They have been focusing on pleasing the rich and powerful countries rather than serving the majority of states," he said, adding that whole approach was aimed against the developing countries, rather than working with them.
