Gore lends his voice and charm to Poznan climate talks
Monday 15 December 2008,  by Stevie Emilia
Gore reminds negotiators to stick to scientific facts when faced with doubt or fear during climate change negotiations.
“We can’t negotiate the facts. We can’t negotiate the truth about the situation … And for those who are too fearful to finish, it can be done and must be done. Let’s make sure we succeed,” said Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former US Vice President Al Gore said to loud cheers and a standing ovation from the audience at the UNFCCC summit in Poznan.
In his speech, Gore reminded negotiators to stick to scientific facts when faced with doubt or fear during the process of negotiations.
Gore, chairman of the Alliance for Climate Protection, said that scientists have warned that the world is dangerously close to so-called tipping points, which could within ten years make it impossible to reverse damage to the planet.
“Simply put, it’s wrong for this generation to destroy the habitability of our planet,” he said. “We should think about our future generation, they have rights. That realisation must carry us forward.”
The climate change conference, attended by 145 environment ministers, took place at a bleak moment: the world struggles with an economic crisis, while the new administration in the United States — the world’s biggest polluter — has yet to take office and implement its more climate-friendly policies.
The Poznan talks served as the half-way mark in negotiations on an ambitious international response to climate change, to be agreed in Copenhagen next year and to take effect in 2013, the year after the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change ends.
The host country, Poland, had earlier suggested the conference’s outcomes should be called the Poznan Solidarity Partnership. Another name, Road to Copenhagen, has also been floated but no further details were available at the time of going to press.
Activists accused the two-week negotiations of failing to live up to expectations.
Friends of the Earth International highlighted the fact that big countries such as Australia, Canada, Japan and the U.S. failed to commit to cut their greenhouse gas emissions at the conference.
“Industrialised countries are failing to live up to their historical and current responsibilities by not committing to steep, immediate and binding emission reduction targets,” said Meena Raman of Friends of the Earth Malaysia. “Many are trying to deflect blame on to major developing nations.”
The Kyoto climate change treaty sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 5 per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period of 2008-2012.
Friends of the Earth also highlighted the fact that some rich countries rejected indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ rights in deforestation negotiations.
“We’re outraged that Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada deleted language on the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in a key decision on deforestation.”
The climate conference also received a boost from a climate change pact agreed by European Union leaders in Brussels on Friday, which would see EU greenhouse gas emissions cut by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
European Commissioner for Environment, Stavros Dimas, said in Poznan on Friday that the package lays the ground for a “green new deal” during the difficult economic times while accelerating the growth of energy efficiency and renewable energy industries of the future as well as enhancing energy security, competitiveness and creating high quality “green” jobs.
“In addition to the unilateral commitment to cut our emissions by at least 20 per cent by 2020, we have also committed to cut our emissions by 30 per cent if other developed countries make comparable reductions under the Copenhagen agreement,” Dimas said.
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Yvo de Boer, welcomed the EU pact.
“The European Union’s climate deal sends a clear message to the negotiations in Poznan and onwards to Copenhagen that difficult roadblocks can be overcome and resolved,” he said.
He said the pact is a sign of developed countries’ resolve and courage, which the world had been waiting for in Poznan, showing that the ambitious emission reduction goals by 2020 are in line with moving economic recovery in a green direction.
“This (pact) will contribute to propelling the world towards a strong, ambitious and ratifiable outcome in Copenhagen in 2009,” de Boer said.