REUTERS
UN security personnel escort US youth delegate Abigail Borah from the International Convention Centre yesterday after she disrupted a speech by the US envoy for climate change, Todd Stern, during the climate change summit in Durban. Picture: REUTERS
Leanne Jansen
leanne.jansen@inl.co.za
‘We all share the frustration… I believe some people have a vested interest in not making any progress. We should send them to a corner of the classroom and continue to work on the negotiations so we can all pass the exam that is required by future generations,” Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, chairman of the African Group at COP17, said yesterday, prompting a flurry of questions on who was to blame for impeding progress at the talks.
Mpanu Mpanu made the remarks at a press briefing, responding to sentiments that those who were not in the know were becoming desperately frustrated wondering what was going on inside the negotiating rooms.
Despite refusing to name and shame, the chairman said: “You also have some countries next year that have elections, and they are very careful about what’s going to happen here, because if the outcome here is too ambitious, then they’re going to have to live up to that outcome and, unfortunately, the opposition they face may use that outcome to say: ‘Look at the administration – they’re contributing to this international thing when China doesn’t have any obligations. Come on, they want to spend taxpayers’ money on that, and this is not good.’ So, unfortunately, some countries maybe are not willing to move. And I’m not naming names – I’m just saying the facts like they are.”
US President Barack Obama is hoping be win a second term in office next year.
The Africa Group is focused on two priorities: the Kyoto protocol and finance for adaptation, and they believe they have “justice” and “large numbers” on their side.
Quizzed about sources of funding for the Green Climate Fund, Mpanu Mpanu affirmed that Africa’s overriding priority was adaptation. “(It) will not be funded by private companies who have to report to investors. So that’s why, of course, it’s important that part of the resources are from public funds. But we need to go with a step-wise approach, one fight at a time. Let us first ensure that we have this Green Climate Fund operationalised, and then we may be able to look at some of the sources. Every day, there are billions of financial transactions taking place, so why not give a small percentage of those proceeds to the fund? Would that create a Wall Street meltdown? I don’t think so.”
With the stakes high on the second-last day of the talks, Mpanu Mpanu was also asked how helpful SA had been in championing the African continent’s cause.
“Regarding the difficulty of South Africa, South Africa is doing a little bit of a balancing act, it is true,” he said.
He added that it was “very hard” to find the middle ground among so many countries. However, the hosts were “very mindful” of the needs of Africa and other developing countries, and the Africa Group had “trust in them”.
