The action forced several technical meetings to be canceled. Delegates to this week’s UN climate talks in Barcelona warned that, unless the African protest was settled, it could set back the timetable for concluding a new climate change pact at a major UN conference next month in Copenhagen. The 50 or so African countries said they would only discuss pledges submitted by wealthy countries, and that until they had made a full commitment, talks on other issues including carbon offsets and action by developing countries should stop. “I don’t think we can get to a result in the way we’re going now,” said Algerian negotiator Kamel Djemouai, who chairs the Africa group. “We cannot prejudge what will happen next until we see the reactions of others.”
This is the first time the Africans have taken such a tough stance at the UN climate talks, though they have coordinated their positions in the past. The larger group of more than 130 developing countries said it supported the African group’s action, meant “to focus the mind” of the developed countries on the most important issue, according to Sudanese Ambassador Lumumba Stanislaus De-Apinbg. He also indicated, however, that walking out of negotiations was a tactic often used in the negotiating process, and did not necessarily spell doom for the talks.
Scientists say industrial countries should reduce emissions by 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, but targets announced so far amount to far less than the minimum. Climate Network Africa, a Kenya-based nongovernmental group, accused developing countries of not negotiating in good faith while African people and livestock suffer from drought and floods.
