During the first week of official discussions at the UN Climate Change Conference, most of the talks are taking place behind closed doors. But information has a tendency to slip out.
On the very first day word came that there are two different texts proposed. But it was only on the second day that this fact was confirmed. The media frenzy began amidst the anger at what came to be known as the "leaked Danish text".
The problem started when a secret draft of a document, prepared by Denmark, the US, and the UK at least, was leaked to The Guardian.
Developing countries became furious with the text, which was seen as an attempt to hijack the discussions with a new one that is formed between developed countries, not taking into account the developing world.
Lumumba Di-Aping, chief negotiator of the G77 bloc (a group consisting of 133 developing countries), said they have been asked to sign "a death pact" through this document.
The document sets targets for all countries except the least developed countries (LDC) – contrary to the Kyoto Protocol which had emission targets for industrialized countries only (which are known under the Kyoto Protocol as Annex-I countries).
In addition, financial and technological aid to the developing world – which is a large issue at the COP15 – will be linked to the countries fulfilling certain targets set for them. So if they do not meet these targets, they get no money. The money will be supplied by the World Bank, rather than going directly to the developing countries.
Di-Aping, in a dramatic show, went up on stage and stood there crying. The room was silent at the sight of a negotiator in this state. A few minutes afterwards he apologized and said that where he comes from in Sudan, it was "better to stand and cry than to walk away." The G77/China bloc issued a statement saying that the Danish text "threatens the success" of discussions in Copenhagen.
However, Kim Carstensen, leader of the WWF Global Climate Initiative, said discussions should not focus on the Danish text. He said it was two weeks old and should not be discussed here.
"That text is put on the shelf. What we are looking at now is the negotiations which we have been working on for a long while."
But many are skeptic. If the document is not up for negotiation, why was it shown now? And why was it shown to certain countries only?
James Hay, the spokesperson for the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said that it is among the proposals on the table at the discussions, stressing there were at least five proposals and none of them had gone through yet. "But this document has simply been resurrected from the dead really."
He added that he was sure the Danish government must have had good intentions.
"Good intentions or not, this is a complete mistake," Rasmus Vincentz, a climate consultant from Danish Energy Management, told IslamOnline.net. "This was totally unnecessary."
Tuvalu, a small Pacific island nation, called for suspension of the COP15 and for transparent discussions.
"The Danes holding secret back-room meetings with a few select countries is also deeply disappointing - the world expects the host country be neutral," said Andy Atkins, the Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, in a statement she issued.
COP15 was suspended before lunch, but resumed again shortly after.
Mohammed Yahia is an editor in the Health & Science section at IslamOnline.net. He has a degree in pharmacology from Cairo University, Egypt. You can contact him by sending an e-mail to ScienceTech@islam-online.net
On the very first day word came that there are two different texts proposed. But it was only on the second day that this fact was confirmed. The media frenzy began amidst the anger at what came to be known as the "leaked Danish text".
The problem started when a secret draft of a document, prepared by Denmark, the US, and the UK at least, was leaked to The Guardian.
Developing countries became furious with the text, which was seen as an attempt to hijack the discussions with a new one that is formed between developed countries, not taking into account the developing world.
Lumumba Di-Aping, chief negotiator of the G77 bloc (a group consisting of 133 developing countries), said they have been asked to sign "a death pact" through this document.
The document sets targets for all countries except the least developed countries (LDC) – contrary to the Kyoto Protocol which had emission targets for industrialized countries only (which are known under the Kyoto Protocol as Annex-I countries).
In addition, financial and technological aid to the developing world – which is a large issue at the COP15 – will be linked to the countries fulfilling certain targets set for them. So if they do not meet these targets, they get no money. The money will be supplied by the World Bank, rather than going directly to the developing countries.
Di-Aping, in a dramatic show, went up on stage and stood there crying. The room was silent at the sight of a negotiator in this state. A few minutes afterwards he apologized and said that where he comes from in Sudan, it was "better to stand and cry than to walk away." The G77/China bloc issued a statement saying that the Danish text "threatens the success" of discussions in Copenhagen.
However, Kim Carstensen, leader of the WWF Global Climate Initiative, said discussions should not focus on the Danish text. He said it was two weeks old and should not be discussed here.
"That text is put on the shelf. What we are looking at now is the negotiations which we have been working on for a long while."
But many are skeptic. If the document is not up for negotiation, why was it shown now? And why was it shown to certain countries only?
James Hay, the spokesperson for the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said that it is among the proposals on the table at the discussions, stressing there were at least five proposals and none of them had gone through yet. "But this document has simply been resurrected from the dead really."
He added that he was sure the Danish government must have had good intentions.
"Good intentions or not, this is a complete mistake," Rasmus Vincentz, a climate consultant from Danish Energy Management, told IslamOnline.net. "This was totally unnecessary."
Tuvalu, a small Pacific island nation, called for suspension of the COP15 and for transparent discussions.
"The Danes holding secret back-room meetings with a few select countries is also deeply disappointing - the world expects the host country be neutral," said Andy Atkins, the Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, in a statement she issued.
COP15 was suspended before lunch, but resumed again shortly after.
Mohammed Yahia is an editor in the Health & Science section at IslamOnline.net. He has a degree in pharmacology from Cairo University, Egypt. You can contact him by sending an e-mail to ScienceTech@islam-online.net
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