European Development Days: Copenhagen can

The proof of the European Union’s (EU’s) solidarity to developing countries will come in the shape of commitments made at the December climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, signalled the leaders from developing countries suffering its consequences at the closing of the three day European Development Days (EDD) event in Stockholm, Sweden, October 22-24.

The urgency for commitments at the upcoming climate conference has been a core theme of the EDD gathering which brought together some 5,500 people; politicians, civil society, media and many individuals to debate and challenge policymakers on the best models for sustainable development. It was jointly organised by the European Commission and the Swedish government which currently holds the EU Presidency.

Views were wide-ranging on how to relieve poverty through sustainable development. Carl Bildt, Sweden’s Foreign Minister, said: “Development has a lot of different concepts; institution building, respect for human rights and added to the list is climate change”.

The EU has taken a lead with a commitment to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 20 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020. Bildt hinted that the EU could take political leadership at Copenhagen by a commitment to reduce emissions by 30 per cent.

At the December 2009 Copenhagen conference, leaders from 190 nations are expected to negotiate a new pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. The financing of a ‘mitigation and adaptation’ fund to assist countries most affected by climate change is also expected to be on the table. EU Heads of State are expected to discuss such a financial package when they meet in Brussels, 29-30 October.

The Swedish Minister takes to Copenhagen testimony from leader after leader on the effects of climate change on small low-lying island states. In a recent round of ‘green diplomacy’, he said that he had been trying to convince other nations; Brazil, South Africa the United States and India to follow suit in setting targets for bigger reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Michѐle Louis, Prime Minister of Haiti asked: “Is it going to be possible to achieve a globally agreed system to stop the causes of climate change and compensate those who are suffering the consequences without having caused them?”. More intense hurricanes experienced by her country in recent years had caused destruction of infrastructure put at millions of dollars and loss of life, she told the EDD. She called for “...fair and just reparations for the harm suffered.”

Emmanuel Manny Moru, President of Micronesia which has a population of 120,000 spread over 600 islands covering one million miles of the western part of the Pacific Ocean, said that his country was, “on the verge of drowning”. He said that his country was at the frontline of climate change with agricultural production and livelihood threatened by rising sea levels.

Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of the NGO, Oxfam International, said: “There is no room for plan B. Failure in Copenhagen will mean loss of life”. Hobbs called on the EU to make available a €110bn ‘adaptation and mitigation’ fund by 2020 and stressed that the resources must be new and not recycled from other parts of budgets for development financing.

Margaret Wallström, EU Communications Commissioner and representative of the European Commission at the closing EDD debate, called for a “new roadmap for sustainable development on global scale”.

She wants to see an “EU fast start-up fund 2010-2012”, to enable projects, such as technology transfer to mitigate climate change in the most vulnerable states. This should come from additional development funding rather than that already committed, she said.

Raila Odinga, Kenya’s Prime Minister said that the ice cap on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro was shrinking, having reduced eighty per cent 1912-2009 and which at the present rate, could entirely disappear by 2015. His country faces extremes of droughts and flooding. “Imagine a world without the wildlife of the Masai Mara, the Serengeti or the flamingos of Lake Nakuru”, he said.

“All of us share a piece of real estate called planet Earth,” said Edward Natapei, President of Vanuatu, a small low-lying Pacific island. He called for immediate technology transfers from developed to developing countries.

He echoed the views of many who attended the EDD: “Pacific islands and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are paying the biggest price [of climate change] when the fruits of modern day advancement lie somewhere else”.