Copenhagen climate change talks 'thrown into chaos' » Environment » 24dash.com

Talks on combating climate change were thrown into chaos in Copenhagen today as developing countries refused to take part until rich nations agree to increase their efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The setback came as Downing Street announced that Prime Minister Gordon Brown will fly to the Copenhagen conference tomorrow - two days earlier than planned - to throw his weight behind efforts to reach a deal.

Mr Brown has already identified the need to help developing countries mitigate carbon emissions and adapt to the impact of global warming as one of the key elements to any agreement.

The PM's spokesman this morning said Mr Brown remained "optimistic" that a political deal could be reached by Friday on a framework to reduce emissions after the old Kyoto agreement expires in 2012.

Campaigners said that the developing countries were right to focus attention on the issue of carbon cuts in rich-world industrialised states.

Representatives from developing countries have said they will not participate in any working groups at the 192-nation summit until the issue is resolved.

Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International, said: "Africa has pulled the emergency cord to avoid a train crash at the end of the week. Poor countries want to see an outcome which guarantees sharp emissions reductions, yet rich countries are trying to delay discussions on the only mechanism we have to deliver this - the Kyoto Protocol.

"This not about blocking the talks - it is about whether rich countries are ready to guarantee action on climate change and the survival of people in Africa and across the world."

Nelson Muffuh, Christian Aid's senior climate change advocacy co-ordinator, said: "Africa has been driven to this by the lack of progress on key substantive issues such as strong mitigation targets, and the lack of offers of financial support from rich countries to poor to help them deal with climate change.

"We need far more robust emission targets from wealthy countries and much more finance."

Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband this morning urged delegates to make progress before national leaders arrive later this week.

Mr Miliband acknowledged that the conference was "not yet on track for the kind of deal we need" and said "more urgency" was needed to solve problems.

Speaking in Copenhagen, Mr Miliband said: "I've always said the leaders' role in this process is incredibly important to get the final pieces of the jigsaw in place. But what we cannot do is leave a whole slew of issues to leaders.

"I think that the very clear message for negotiators and ministers is we need to get our act together and take action to resolve some of the outstanding issues that we face."

Mr Brown's spokesman denied that the change in the PM's schedule was due to concerns that discussions in the Danish capital lacked momentum.

He said that the G20 summit on the economic crisis in London earlier this year had shown that early engagement by national leaders was a crucial part of securing ambitious agreements.

"His view is that these negotiations can't wait until the last minute," said the spokesman. "He believes that we have learnt the lessons from the G20 that it takes leadership to get involved and try to pull together what is required as soon as possible."

The spokesman said the PM would not offer advice to other leaders on when they should arrive in Copenhagen.

But he added: "He is not seeking to push himself forward but he has taken a personal view that it is important that, if world leaders can, they should get there early."

A key issue facing those at the meeting is whether they are willing to deliver on the commitments made.

Mr Miliband said: "There are two outstanding issues that I think all countries face, frankly, in this, which is whether we are willing to stand behind our commitments and say that we're going to do what we promise and, secondly, the precise system of monitoring, reporting and verification to make sure people actually follow through on what they promise."

He was joined by International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander, who said the fight against global warming was tied to the battle against poverty.

Mr Alexander said: "The challenge of tackling dangerous climate change and tackling extreme global poverty are now indivisible. For the developing world, climate change is not a future threat, but a contemporary crisis."

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has also been in Copenhagen to urge negotiators to secure a deal that would protect the world's forests, in the wake of the Prime Minister's call for 25 billion dollars (£15 billion) in funding from rich countries up to 2015 to reduce deforestation, which accounts for almost a fifth of total global emissions.

Over the next two days, Mr Brown aims to talk to other world leaders who have brought forward their arrival at Copenhagen, including Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd of Australia, Jens Stoltenberg of Norway, Sheikh Hasina Wajed of Bangladesh and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.

Friends of the Earth executive director Andy Atkins said: "Gordon Brown's early arrival at Copenhagen could be significant - but he must bring a new approach with him if he wants to help secure a strong and fair climate agreement.

"The Prime Minister could help kick-start the talks if he committed to UK emissions cuts of 40% by 2020, abandoned carbon offsetting and put much more money on the table to enable poorer nations to tackle global warming."

The chief negotiator of the G77 group of developing countries, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, from Sudan, said that the walkout was prompted by the failure of the Danish presidency to put industrial nations' emissions targets at the top of the agenda.

Poor countries, supported by China and India, suspect that rich states hope to use the conference to kill off the Kyoto agreement, which commits them to emissions cuts, with penalties for failure. The developing states would like to see an extension of Kyoto, which does not make any legally binding requirements of them.

Mr Di-Aping told BBC Radio 4's World at One: "We decided to stop and reflect on what is happening, because it had become clear that the Danish presidency - in the most undemocratic fashion - is advancing the interests of developed countries at the expense of the balance of obligations between developing and developed countries.

"They are not only pressing to sign a deal. They are pressing simply to shift the obligations from developed countries to developing countries.

"What we want is a process that is democratic, that allows us full participation, that ensures the safety and lives of the developing countries in Africa and small island states.

"We want a deal that will save the Kyoto Protocol and we want finance and mitigation targets and commitment periods signed at this conference. If that doesn't happen, I am afraid we can't accept the idea that we are going to create a new legal instrument.

"The EU in particular is pursuing a strategy of killing the Kyoto Protocol, hiding behind the US. Their issue is that they don't want to commit to ambitious targets commensurate to the risk."