Nigeria, others call on Cancun conference chair to rise above partisanship

Abstract

A number of developing countries present at the Cancun conference negotiations have decried serious gaps in the possible elements of the conference outcome, calling on its president to rise above partisanship, according to the Information and Communication Service (ICS) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) covering the event. It accuses the North-South divide in the ongoing negotiations for being “an impediment to making substantial progress in Cancun”. The statement points out that although the president repeatedly assured delegates of transparency and progressive achievements on certain elements, concerns expressed by Nigeria and a number of other developing countries “is a clear testimony that the manner in which consultations are being conducted leaves much to be desired, requiring the COP Presidency to rise above partisanship”. The statement decries what it calls “adamant negligence of the warning that the sciences have given to the effect that if the world does not drastically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions urgently, we stand the risk of global warming of up to 4 degrees Celsius”. Unity among the developing countries in Cancun is seen as critical because “the divide-and-rule and the dangling of carrots stunts of the rich industrialized countries that are responsible for causing climate change must be rejected”, the statement concludes.