Developing nations accused the rich of meanness yesterday at the end of UN climate talks that launched only a tiny fund to help poor countries cope with droughts, floods and rising seas. They said the size of the Adaptation Fund - worth just $80 million - was a bad omen at the halfway mark of two years of negotiations on a new treaty to fight global warming designed to be agreed in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.
"We are so sad and so disappointed," Colombian Environment Minister Juan Lozano said of the talks, which went on into the early hours of Saturday and have been overshadowed by worries that global economic woes are drying up donor cash. "The human side of climate change is the suffering of our orphans and our victims and that was not considered here. It's a bad signal on the road to Copenhagen," said Lozano.
"I must say that this is one of the saddest moments I have witnessed in all these years," Indian representative Prodipto Ghosh told delegates at the 189-nation talks, adding he had attended UN climate meetings for 12 years. Several other nations including Brazil, Costa Rica and Maldives made similar remarks.
Many delegates expressed hopes that US President-elect Barack Obama would adopt more aggressive climate policies. Environment ministers at the talks in Poland set rules for the Adaptation Fund, which is meant to help poor nations build flood defences, develop drought-resistant crops, or produce storm warnings.
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081214/world-news/poor-accuse-rich-of-meanness-in-un-climate-change-talks
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