DOHA: Climate Change activists attending the COP18 Conference are expecting Qatar, the host country, to officially announce its carbon cut plans during the meet.
Qatar with the highest per capita emission rate in the world has not announced its international commitment to cut emissions, although the country has claimed major breakthroughs in reducing emission rates over the past few years.
“In its position as the president of the conference, Qatar has a responsibility to make its emission cut plans known to the world during this conference and announce its pledge,” Ria Voorhaar, communications coordinator of Climate Action Network (CAN) told The Peninsula yesterday.
The Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority and President of COP18 H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, on Monday said that Qatar was ready to take decisive actions on curbing its emissions. He, however, maintained that all the figures making rounds about Qatar’s emissions are misleading.
Voorhar said, CAN, a worldwide network of over 700 non-governmental organisations in over 90 countries was pressing for concrete actions from countries at the Doha conference. She said, it would be a disaster if the Doha meet fails to reach an agreement on an extension of the Kyoto Protocol, with the first commitment period to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ending this year.
“An agreement on a second commitment period is likely at the Doha conference and we are lobbying for that. It would be disastrous to the planet if the parties fail to reach a consensus,” said Voorhar. Funding for developing countries is another major issue to be tackled by the conference.
“Currently there is no money on the table. The Green Climate Fund is empty. Developed countries had pledged $100bn but it has not been delivered,” said Voorhar.
Asked if the NGOs were in a position to influence the discussions, she said, “We are working with governments and groups like G77. However, we have no role in the negotiations.”
Meanwhile, Qatar News Agency (QNA) quoted a UN official as saying that the UN was hopeful that the Doha Conference, under the presidency of Qatar, would produce important results “to help reduce carbon emissions and protect the lives of the people”.
The Peninsula
