Conservation International warns of impending threat to climate

The inability of nations to cooperatively meet the scale of climate challenge with equal ambition signals urgent need for innovative leadership and solutions, says Conservation International (CI).

CI made the observation at the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 18).

In a statement made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Monday, the CI said two weeks of largely unproductive negotiations in Qatar, and two historic storms on opposite sides of the planet had taken terrible toll on lives and livelihoods.

“CI expresses deep disappointment at the failure of world leaders to act urgently or responsibly in addressing the scale of cooperation, compromise and investment required by the multiple threats of global climate change to people."

It stated that efforts to address the climate crisis both within the United Nations framework as well as through regional, national and private means, would need to be redoubled to deliver an equitable and ambitious 2015 global agreement that would prevent further damage to earth’s life support systems.

“Although expectations for this process-focused summit were low, and a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol was eventually agreed by some parties for the 2013-2020 period, CI’s analysts in Doha reported that there was woefully inadequate progress in the outcome of Doha Climate Gateway agreement, which concluded talks after more than 24 hours of overtime.

“With parties deeply divided on issues of financial responsibility, emissions reduction targets, and a path to move forward with adaptation action as impacts become increasingly real, the18th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 18), has fallen far short of its mandate to build on the momentum begun in Cancun and Durban, and to pave the way for an ambitious 2015 global treaty that curbs greenhouse gas emissions and holds temperature rise to two degrees Celsius — the threshold at which science warns of dangerous tipping points that will affect water security, food security, economic security and human well-being.

“Nobody expected a major breakthrough to happen at this summit, but there has been virtually no meaningful progress on any important issue, including sustaining existing levels of financial support to help the most vulnerable nations cope with the negative impacts of climate change that, unfortunately, are already a reality.

“At most, what this meeting has achieved is an agreement to continue negotiating next year. This is completely unacceptable and irresponsible considering the severity and urgency of the challenge,” the statement said.

The statement quoted Dr Fred Boltz, Senior Vice President for International Policy at CI.

It said in spite of the three years left before the 2015 deadline to a global climate treaty that the parties agreed to in South Africa last year, countries seemed to be resigned to postponing crucial decisions and investments to the very last minute or beyond.

“It is a terrible and a terrifying irony that, while the efforts of the global community…are moving at a glacial pace, the world’s glaciers are now actually moving — or rather melting — even faster; the collective failure of countries to act with urgency and resolve is appalling; the threat of dangerous climate change could not be more apparent, and a growing chorus of scientific evidence warns us that time is running short to prevent irreversible harm.

“The United Nations is a collective body, and there is plenty of blame and responsibility to go around. …In Doha we’ve seen growing distrust amongst nations divided and incapable of addressing this urgent global problem. Countries continue to put their ‘national priorities’ first, forgetting that we have a common interest. They are playing a game of chicken that risks sending us all over the cliff," the statement warned.