A sense of resignation

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila A. Odinga has expressed an overwhelming sense of resignation at Cancun in his statement on the opening day of the high-level segment on Tuesday at the United Nations climate change conference.

Mr. Odinga said this must not be allowed to persist and called for a fundamental shift in the mindset of the negotiators. “Let us stop negotiations for the sake of negotiations. Long-term solutions are certainly vital but let us also deliver results for tomorrow,” he added.

He said that in Copenhagen there was unhappiness over “the undemocratic negotiation process and disappointing outcomes.”

“But we swallowed the Copenhagen accord because of the voluntary emission reduction targets, the pledge of $30 billion fast-start funding and the commitment of $100 billion annually by 2020,” he pointed out.

However, less than 20 per cent of the fast-start funding has been delivered and it was not clear how much were additional funds.

The first key outcome of the conference was a clear reaffirmation of the $30 billion fast-start finance to be made available by 2010 and at least one half of it should be for adaptation, he said.

Mr. Odinga said the negotiations on climate change were “stuck in mud” and he held everyone responsible for the state of affairs.