DOHA: Nongovernmental Organisations (NGOs) have said that Qatar, as host country of COP18 with the highest per capita carbon footprint, should do “more” than found a climate change research centre in Doha.
NGOs gathered under the Climate Action Network (CAN) welcomed Qatar’s announcement but “believe that Qatar needs to do more, especially in the region”, said Hoda Baraka, from Greenpeace at a press conference yesterday.
Baraka added that “we hope Qatar, alongside other Arab states, will play a leading role in the field.” She said that there is great concern for challenges on food security and water scarcity. “Arab states will be among the first to experience the worst damages of climate change. They need to guarantee a long sustainable future in this conference,” she added.
On the other hand, Tim Gore from Oxfam International, also at the press conference, said that in the first day of the high level talks, “developed countries are positioning themselves; we’ll see if they keep their past commitments.”
He said that “we need success both in the Kyoto Protocol and long-term cooperative action.” He added that some developed countries have made announcements about their finance intentions like UK, Sweden and Germany.
Nevertheless, while NGOs welcome these announcements, they wonder why other countries like Canada, US and Australia are silent. On this issue, Gore stated that “those announcements can’t be a substitution for the text that poor countries have come here to negotiate.”
“If we want to end this COP by Friday we need the presidency to help bring forward an agreement on finance, among other key issues”, insisted Gore. He asked UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon to get more involved and not work only “behind the scenes.”
On the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, Gore he considered “quite possible” that the out coming document will be “weak”.
The representative of Oxfam International also demanded that to move forward with the Green Fund and, in the meantime, he encouraged developed countries to invest in the Adaptation Fund.
The Peninsula
