A BOYCOTT by Africa, the continent hardest hit by global warming, of one of the key strands of the UN climate talks led to EU and other Kyoto Protocol member countries agreeing last night to allocate more time to discussing emissions cuts.
What the 53-strong group of African countries wanted to see was the developed world, including the EU and US, putting “numbers on the table” for a post-2012 renewal of the Kyoto Protocol; otherwise, the group said it was unwilling to negotiate on other issues.
The Kyoto strand of the talks had to be suspended when the Africans simply didn’t turn up for meetings of contact groups. This caused “great disappointment” to the EU, which worked hard throughout the day to find a formula to get the talks back on track.
Sudan’s Stanislaus Lumumba, chairman of the G77 group of 130 developing countries, had backed the boycott. “Walking in or out of the process is part of engagement [in negotiations]. It’s a hiccup that focuses the minds of developed countries,” he said.
Sweden’s Anders Turesson, the chief EU negotiator, said Europe “very much shares Africa’s concern and is also anxious to raise the level of ambition among developed countries”.
He also warned that boycotting the Kyoto strand of the talks “may be counterproductive”.
As Mr Lumumba noted, several developed countries had made it plain that they wanted to “kill off” the Kyoto Protocol after its first phase runs out in 2012. The US, in particular, favours replacing it with a new global agreement that would not be legally binding.
Algerian delegate Kamil Djemouai, chairman of the Africa Group, said it was impossible to talk about issues such as what credit developed countries would get for investing in African climate projects when there was “nothing really concrete” on emissions cuts.
Kenya’s Grace Akumu said Africans had been “negotiating in good faith, and we expect the developed countries to do the same”. But these countries were evading their historical responsibilities for climate change by failing to specify what they would do to halt it.
“In Africa, we have already overshot a two-degree temperature rise and that is threatening our survival as a continent,” she said. “We are losing wildlife, livestock, people . . . It’s difficult to cope because of the pressure we’re under. For us, it’s a question of life and death.
“We feel very frustrated as the continent that will suffer the most, yet is not responsible for causing climate change, that the nations who are responsible are not willing to put numbers on the table. If they don’t do that, the negotiations become difficult,” Ms Akumu added.
Lesotho’s Bruno Sekoli, chair of the Least Developed Countries group, said the impact of global warming “came so soon for us, we’re scared to think of the future and what it would be like”. That was why Africa attached such importance to this “fundamental problem”.
Some observers saw the African boycott as an exercise in shadow-boxing, but environment and development aid groups were less cynical. “We understand and share Africa’s frustration,” said Kim Carstensen, the World Wildlife Fund’s climate leader.
“Africa is on the front line of any political failure of the climate change talks. These countries will suffer disastrous consequences, and we should not be surprised that they are asking the developed world to commit to serious emissions reductions.”
Damon Moglen, climate campaign director for Greenpeace in the US, said Africans were talking about their survival: “The fact that this has come today from countries including Kenya, President Obama’s ancestral home, should be his wake-up call.”