Developing Views

While attending a plenary meeting (before having to leave because NGOs were not allowed to attend) I was able to hear the multiple comments made by representatives of developing countries. Some striking comments that were made, including those from a majority of the AOSIS (Alliance of Small Island States) that said there is no time like the present to come to an agreement. The most powerful comment came from the representative of Gambia. “Time is not on our side, we have to act now…Gambia is a very vulnerable country and wishes us to act now to save what we can while we still can”. Some of the developing countries wish to stay under the Kyoto protocol because apparently they would still be considered a developed country, thus allowing them to release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere along with gaining financing and technologies from developed countries. Some statements were also made by Nigeria and Niger concerning the countries in the Saharan region of Africa affected by global climate change, stating their vulnerability along with adaptation or mitigation problems.

Another comment that was met with many curious eyes all pointing to one direction was made by the Syrian Arab representative who proposed that the most effective action would be to implement provisions from the Kyoto protocol, along with a recommendation that resources be mobilized for use around the world. The same representative made clear that he hadn’t heard anyone speak of land degradation, or desertification.

A speaker representing the Climate Action Network (over 500 NGO’s) decided to make a short speech. She said, “The survival of our race as people is non- negotiable we need to accept the mark as the industrialized age by saving our species not by killing it… now will you emerge as heroes, as people who will do something or no?” No statement made as much of a ruckus as a statement made by Amira Karim, a woman from Singapore representing the YOUNGO (Youth Non-governmental Organizations) constituency. “This is not the time to say ‘yes we can’ it is the time to say ‘yes we can, yes we must, yes we will’!”