Copenhagen Spells Disaster for Poor

SCIAF has joined with faith-based international aid agencies around the world to slam the Copenhagen climate agreement saying it will spell disaster for millions of the world’s poorest people.

The Copenhagen summit and Accord leaves the world with no clear action plan for preventing runaway climate change. Leaders of the wealthy industrialised nation’s failure to commit to legally binding cuts to their greenhouse gas emissions and aspirational commitments on financing for developing countries, mean people across Africa, Asia and Latin America will continue to face a struggle for their very survival.

Speaking from Copenhagen, SCIAF Policy Analyst, Rowan Popplewell said:

“World leaders can call this deal an historical accord, a declaration, or whatever they like. The reality is that they have failed to deliver anything concrete. They have passed up this historical opportunity to set a clear and collective pathway to a sustainable future. This hollow and meaningless political outcome will leave millions of people in developing countries fighting to keep their heads above water.

“The Copenhagen Accord is an unambitious, non-binding agreement, which allows countries to set their own individual targets based on what is considered economically and politically viable rather than what is required by science and justice. The situation today is not much different to the situation two weeks ago when the summit started.

“Vulnerable countries within the 193 nation summit have been virtually forced into recognising this fig leaf for a agreement to help prevent the summit from collapsing altogether. Poor nations have had their worst fears confirmed. It is clear that many wealthy nations still do not accept their historical responsibility for climate change and are unwilling to address the problem with sufficient sincerity and urgency.

"Leaders may be lagging behind, but the level of commitment demonstrated by people in Scotland, and around the world, in the run up to Copenhagen has shown unequivocally that the public is resolutely behind a strong climate change deal.

“Communities in developing countries are already struggling to cope with the effects of climate change and we only have a short window of opportunity in which to prevent even worse impacts in the future. Leaders must now set a firm deadline and timetable for agreeing a comprehensive and binding deal in the coming months.

SCIAF believes the world must accept nothing less than a fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement which sees other developed countries follow Scotland’s lead and commit to greenhouse gas emissions cuts of more than 40% by 2020 – based on 1990 levels. We also need to see wealthy nations provide $195 billion in funding by 2020 – on top of existing aid commitments - to help developing countries harness green technologies and protect themselves from the worst impacts of climate change.

Despite this weak agreement and the chaos we have seen in Copenhagen over the last two weeks, we now have to look towards 2010 and keep on fighting for a safe future for all. SCIAF is dedicated to campaigning to make sure the voices of the poorest are heard at the highest levels.

The drive to get a fair and binding climate change deal will continue and we need your continuing support, so watch this space!

..........

Read how events unfolded at the UN summit with SCIAF's Policy Analyst Rowan Popplewell's blogs: Coping with Copenhagen.

...........

SCIAF is a member of TckTckTck, an unprecedented global alliance, representing hundreds of millions of people from all walks of life. It is made up of leading international, national and local organisations addressing environment, development, poverty, human rights, health and humanitarian issues. It represents faith-based groups, youth groups, trade unions and individuals all calling for a fair, ambitious and binding global climate change agreement. To read theTck Tck Tck response to the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen click here.