UN warns 'paradise' under threat at start of climate meet

Dec 3, 2007, 8:27 GMT

Bali, Indonesia - The decisions of governments this week will decide whether the world's islands are rendered a 'lost paradise' by the devastating impacts of global warming, the UN's top climate official said at the opening of a crucial UN climate conference Monday.

Delegates from some 180 countries began their December 3-14 meeting on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, which the United Nations hopes will formally launch talks over the next two years on a climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

'The outcome of this conference will, to a degree, determine whether Bali - and other vulnerable places - are destined to become a lost paradise, or not,' said Yvo de Boer, general secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in opening the gathering.

'Public expectations for Bali to provide answers are big,' de Boer said. 'The eyes of the world are now upon you. There is a huge responsibility for Bali to deliver.'

Governments are expected to set the end of 2009 as the goal for reaching a climate deal, allowing enough time for countries to ratify the treaty before the end of Kyoto, which began in 2005.

Over the next two years, countries will have to agree to concrete emissions reduction goals, assign specific responsibilities and decide if and how to finance clean technology development, avoid deforestation, and help poorer countries adapt to the already- inevitable consequences of climate change.

The Bali talks are expected to produce the roadmap that will lead them through those decisions. More than 10,000 government representatives, climate experts and environmentalists were attending the meeting.

Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witular told the delegates that climate protection 'must form' an integral part of sustainable economic development.

'We need to use this session to send a strong statement to the international community that we at Bali negotiations can act with the requisite sense of urgency and import,' Witoelar said.

Witoelar called on the participants to build on lessons over the years and begin concrete deliberations on the future of climate change action. He added that many have expressed support for a 'target date of 2009' for reaching a deal.

'I urge you to provide thoughtful intellectual and political leadership, and deploy your creative energies in taking this process forward and meeting the challenge of climate change,' Witoelar said.

As the talks begin, many eyes will be on China and the United States, the world's two largest emitters of greenhouse-gases blamed for global warming. The US did not ratify Kyoto, in large part because developing countries like China were not given emissions reductions targets.

What kind of international commitments should be pledged by developing countries this time around will be a top issue in Bali. Some industrial nations have said they will only sign up to a treaty that, unlike Kyoto, includes hard targets for developing countries.

The European Union last week called on China to accept binding commitments to reduce emissions. Developing countries in turn point to the industrial world's historic responsibility for global warming.

The US has said it is committed to reaching a deal by 2009 but has sought to place the focus on national programmes rather than international targets. Some governments and environmentalists have placed their hope on a more environmentally-friendly administration after the 2008 presidential elections.

'I believe Washington will only commit itself to an international climate treaty when it is clear, after the presidential elections, how climate protection in America itself should be organized,' German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Sunday.

Gabriel he expected the United States to work hard to prevent talk of any binding commitments coming out of Bali.

Scientific reports released throughout the year from the UN's International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) have made clear beyond doubt that climate change is a reality and can seriously harm the future development of economies, societies and ecosystem worldwide.

Environmental groups at Monday's opening sought to remind the world that the past year has seen more weather records smashed as extreme events take a firm hold of the planet, and called on governments to agree on the two-year deadline for finalizing a future action plan.

'Keeping warming below a 2 degrees Celsius global average is key to preventing dangerous extreme events such as those which punctuated 2007,' Hans Verolme, director of the World Wildlife Fund's climate change programme, said outside the meeting venue.

Greenpeace unveiled a giant thermometer outside the conference, warning delegates to prevent rising global temperatures from reaching dangerous levels.

The 6.7 metre-high thermometer's message read: 'Don't cook the climate!' and will be hanging outside the conference venue for the next two weeks.