Stay in Copenhagen until you seal a deal, leaders urged

Nelson Muffuh, Christian Aid's senior climate advocacy adviser, today urged heads of state and government meeting in Copenhagen to show leadership now while there is still time - and come up with a fair, ambitious and binding (FAB) deal on climate change.


‘Give the world the best Christmas present it has ever had: stay in Copenhagen until you have produced the deal that the world and its people urgently need,’ he says. ‘No amount of shiny green wrapping paper will disguise your failure, if you come up with a plan that will neither solve the climate crisis nor allow poor countries to survive it and pursue clean development.

‘No amount of greenwash will blind us to where the blame really lies, if you try to point fingers at the developing world, which bears least responsibility for climate change and which is suffering most as a result of it.

‘Nor should you think that poor countries can be bribed into agreeing a deal that is neither fair to them nor effective against climate change. They came here for climate justice and, so far, you have offered them small handouts which are not remotely commesurate with the crisis their people are facing.’

Mr Muffuh also criticises the underhand tactics used by a number of rich countries to delay progress towards a fair, ambitious and binding deal and shift the burden of responsibility for action on to poor countries.

He continues: ‘Voters will not forgive you, the poor people of the world will not forgive you and future generations will not forgive you, if you waste the precious opportunity you have to turn the world away from its path towards climate crisis.

‘Now is the time for you, heads of state and government, to show the world what leadership looks like. To offer emissions cuts which are deep enough to keep the temperature rise below 2 degrees. And to come up with a plan for long-term, additional climate finance amounting to at least $150 billion of public funds by 2020.

‘Gordon Brown, we were encouraged by your speech today to fellow heads of state and government, in which you recognised that climate finance must be additional to aid. We ask you and your officials to now use your influence to win significant movement from other developed countries, starting with the EU and the US.’

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