EU remarks on climate change raise suspicions of betrayal

As the world anxiously awaits the International Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Nigerian officials say the nation is making progress in keeping its obligations, but fear the developed countries are planning to dump the binding protocols of Kyoto at the event.

After a sustained period of suspicion, last week, a senior official of the European Union made remarks regarded as the clearest signal yet, of the intents of the western countries who may be planning to dump the agreements arrived at in Kyoto in 1997, which committed industrialized countries and those in transition to a market economy to achieve emission reduction targets.

The developed nations, known under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC )as Annex I parties, agreed to reduce their overall emissions of six greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2% below 1990 levels between 2008-2012 (the first commitment period), with specific targets varying from country to country.

The emitted gases from high industrial activities have been the chief cause of a changing climate and a warmer environment which stands a larger part of Africa and other sub-continents at a very high degree of risk of flooding, drought, desertification and extensive effects on Agriculture and Health according to experts.

The protocol, though legally binding, has largely been ignored by the countries involved and the United States of America is yet to even ratify it.

Nigeria, with quite an extensive coastline at more than 800km, is said to be at a greater risk.

Victor Fodeke, who Heads the Special Climate Change Unit in the Ministry of Environment said Nigerians and Africans should know that the continent remains the most vulnerable and the " time to act is now to appeal to the conscience of European Union, and United States of America not to kill Kyoto; and save Africa."

"Presently, Kyoto is the only basis of getting the developed countries to cut down their emissions in measurable verifiable and reportable manner," he said. "This is the only hope for Africa to be free from the looming negative consequences of climate change."

An official who would not be named said "coming just after our meeting in Addis and a few days before Barcelona, this statement by a senior official of the European Union is an eye opener to what our partners are planning for Copenhagen."

The officials said it has been clear that issues of climate change do not really bother the industrialized countries since they have access to the three key tools of combating the challenge namely: funding, technology and the capacity.

The European Commission's Deputy Director General of Environment, Jos Delbeke, said last Tuesday the protocol signed under the UNFCCC, has failed in terms of compliance and the European Union is ready to move on to a new system, which may not be legally binding.

But Mr. Delbeke said compliance and implementation of the climate agreement were more important to the climate agreement, therefore if the countries fail to comply as it is the case, the Kyoto had failed on this note.

He reportedly cited Canada, which has overshot its Kyoto targets and yet no corrective measures have been taken. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on February 16 2005 and now has 189 parties. The Protocol provides for commitment periods that set legally binding aggregate and individual targets for Annex I Parties to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and has a compliance system.

However, the EU leaders on Friday reached an agreement on helping developing nations tackle climate change, but without putting a figure to Europe's contribution.

At a summit in Brussels, the bloc agreed that climate change would need 100bn euros a year by 2020 to tackle. They pledged that they would pay their "fair share", conditional on other nations. No cost targets for individual nations were announced and the initial funding will be voluntary.

Details of how the burden will be shared will be sorted out later by a working group.