| Concluding the week before Christmas, the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change was no gift to small islands and countries with low lying coastlands.What emerged from it was a political accord rather than the much talked about legal agreement that would bind all countries to tackling climate change that has its most calamitous effects on small developing countries.But, at least one Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) country can claim some success at Copenhagen. Guyana has adopted a strategy of preserving its forests so as to contain greenhouse gas emissions in return for development money.A plan, excluded from the Kyoto Protocol entitled Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) — under which wealthier nations pay rainforest countries for preserving their trees, was specifically mentioned in the political accord.That mention is a platform on which to build. Belize, Dominica and Jamaica which still have relatively substantial rainforests should join Guyana in capitalizing on it.The political accord itself was highly contentious. Drafted and agreed by only five countries, it was only “noted” by the Conference; it was not adopted as reflecting global consensus and it attracted vociferous opposition.At Copenhagen despite the facade of a huge conference room with thousands of representatives of nations from around the world, the big players engaged in their usual excusive discussions and then handed down their agreement which, even amongst themselves, was tortuously reached.The difference this time is that the big players were not the Western industrialized nations. The big boys were China, India, Brazil,Cheap China Jerseys, and South Africa with the United States of America.The tides of history are washing-up a new order on the shores of international decision-making for sure.But, while the new order includes the large developing countries, the smaller ones continue to be marginalised,Cheap Jerseys Online, remembered more as a postscript than as a priority even though they are the primary sufferers.It is significant that the large developing countries in the new club have so far shown no greater concern for the plight of small and vulnerable countries than did the G7.In part, this points to a failure of diplomatic action by small developing states themselves.Under the umbrella of the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) at the United Nations, they work assiduously among themselves to reach consensus positions,Cheap Jerseys China, but the governments of these countries have not adopted a joined-up policy in their relations with the four large developing states.Hence, in their individual relations with Brazil, India, China and South Africa, Caribbean governments, for instance, have not adopted a cohesive policy in which diplomatic support for these four, as well as trade with them, is linked to issues such as climate change.Ban ki-moon,Cheap MLB Jerseys China, the UN Secretary-General, did his job by trying to put a brave face on the Copenhagen political accord pointing particularly to a pledge of US$30 million a year between 2010 and 2012 to be disbursed through a Copenhagen Green Climate Fund. He also pointed to pledges to mobilize US$100 billion a year by 2020 for developing countries.No developing country should hold its breath that anything approaching these sums will be disbursed.And they certainly will not be disbursed to small states unless there is vigorous and collective global campaigning by the member countries of AOSIS.The great tragedy of Copenhagen is that, even while the jousting between the US and China continues, the large developed and developing countries did not seize the moment to at least provide help to those islands and developing countries with low-lying coasts.Had they agreed an immediate,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale, well-resourced plan of action to help those small countries,Wholesale NFL Jerseys China, such as Tuvalu and Maldives, Copenhagen could have been remembered for its humanity. (Hoovers) |
