TALKS were suspended at the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen on Monday just before noon, following a protest led by African countries.
The African bloc, and G77 made up of developing nations including China, said developed countries were trying to replace the existing Kyoto Protocol. “This is a walk-out over process and form, not a walkout over substance, and that’s regrettable,” Australian Climate Change Minister Penny Wong reported said to wire agency Reuters. UN’s climate chief Yvo de Boer said at a conference, however, that the presidency of the conference would have informal talks with the negotiating parties in the early afternoon and that the talks would focus on the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol. “The vast majority [of countries] want to see a continuation of the Kyoto Protocol,” Yvo de Boer said. “This is not just an African concern.” Asked whether he had heard of any countries indicating that they might boycott the conference, Yvo de Boer answered: “I am not aware of any country threatening to block anything.” G77-China chief negotiator Lumumba Di-Aping, however, explained why the bloc had taken the decision to withdraw its co-operation. “It has become clear that the Danish presidency - in the most undemocratic fashion - is advancing the interests of the developed countries at the expense of the balance of obligations between developed and developing countries,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One programme. “The mistake they are doing now has reached levels that cannot be acceptable from a president who is supposed to be acting and shepherding the process on behalf of all parties.” Mr de Boer admitted that the US did not seem interested in the Kyoto treaty, although “they are not against against a legally-binding treaty under the convention.” One key sticking point in the negotiations is how to ensure that developing nations also take tangible and measurable actions on emissions, he added. “One of the challenges we face is how to capture a country’s willingness to act in the final agreement,” he said. When asked about the status of the negotiations, Mr de Boer said to much laughter from reporters: “Where are we on the journey? We’re about halfway. we’re queueing up for the cable car. and the rest of the journey is going to be fast, smooth and relaxed.” He also said on finance that there has been progress. “We have a very clear pledge from EU, and we have heard other countries say they are willing to makie financial contributions. “So one of the things we have to do is to make sure that we have a precise listing of what individual industrialised countries are willing to contrbute in financial terms,” he said.
