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STATEMENT BY H. E. MUKHDOOM SYED FAISAL SALEH HAYAT, MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND SPECIAL ENVOY OF THE PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN, ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA, AT THE HIGH-LEVEL EVENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE ENTITLED: THE FUTURE IN OUR HANDS: ADDRESSING THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE (New York, 24 September 2007) |
Honourable Co-Chairs,
It is my honour and privilege to present the views of the Group of 77 and China at this important high-level event on Climate Change, which has been entitled: The future in our hands: addressing the leadership challenge of climate change.”
Honourable Co-Chairs,
2. Climate Change poses serious risks and challenges particularly to developing countries and, therefore, demands urgent global action and response.
3. We are concerned about the fact that the adverse effects of climate change and the associated phenomena threaten the sustainable development, livelihoods and the very existence of many developing countries and in particular Africa, the LDCs, the LLDCs, SIDS and disaster prone developing countries.
4. The most important question facing us here today is: can we muster the political will to agree on a strategy to respond to this challenge? More importantly, can we display the political will to implement the commitments and policies to which we commit ourselves?
5. The Group of 77 and China has consistently called for efforts to address climate change in a manner that enhances and ensures the sustainable development and sustained economic growth of the developing countries and the universal elimination of poverty, hunger and disease. To this end, all three pillars of sustainable development i.e. economic development, social development and environmental protection, should be addressed in an integrated, coordinated and balanced manner.
6. It is vital, therefore, that all concerned should pledge themselves to fully and faithfully implement the commitments they have undertaken under the Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. These commitments must constitute an integral component of the commitments and obligations which all of us undertake in the context of addressing climate change.
7. The entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol provided renewed optimism for effectively tackling this problem at the multilateral level. Once again we take this opportunity to renew our call upon all member States that have yet not done so to ratify and implement the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. The UNFCCC, and its Kyoto Protocol, remains the central multilateral framework for cooperative actions to address climate change.
Honourable Co-Chairs,
8. In elaborating a global strategy to address climate change, we must continue to adhere to the Rio principles and in particular the Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibility. This central principle must be given tangible content. We would like to highlight that effective mitigation efforts are essential to address the challenges posed by climate change. Developed countries must continue to take the lead, as they have committed to, in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof including through significantly reducing GHG emissions.
9. The developed countries also have an obligation to support the developing countries to adapt an environment-friendly path to development and growth by providing additional and substantial financial and technological assistance. Clearly, the challenge of sustaining economic development and achieving social development and ensuring environmental protection is too overwhelming and beyond the capacity of the developing countries to address on their own. It can only be effectively addressed through international cooperation as well as a partnership with the developed countries, premised on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. It is the view of the G-77 and China that the decisions on Climate Change should, therefore, fulfill the commitments, undertaken at the Rio and Johannesburg Conferences, including Agenda 21 and the Rio Principles.
10. Developed countries should support and assist the efforts of developing countries to adapt to climate change and the response measures designed to address climate change.
11. We strongly believe that no adaptation plan or strategy would be effective without enhanced financing and greater technological support and access for developing countries.
12. Enabling the developing countries to respond to climate change will require substantial additional official assistance, over and above the long standing 0.7 ODA target as well as the 0.15 - 0.20 ODA target for LDCs. In this context, the recent negative trend in ODA levels is highly regrettable.
13. Similarly, technology is essential to address the climate change challenge. The present restraint on access to advanced technologies, imposed particularly by the IPR regime, need to be lifted, at least for technologies that can assist in meeting climate change challenge. The developing countries must also be helped, on affordable preferential and concessional terms, through technology transfer, directed R&D and other assistance, to acquire and build capacity for the application of technologies to meet sustainable development targets and goals.
14. The Group of 77 and China would also like to emphasize the urgent need for building the resilience of communities and nations to natural disasters, including those related to Climate Change, and establishing early warning systems in order to prevent and reduce the adverse impacts of such events.
Honourable Co-Chairs,
15. The Group of 77 and China further advocates that the developed countries assist developing countries in integrating adaptation into future planning and investment and Poverty Reduction Strategies.
16. We also call for an evaluation and the streamlining of the GEF funding mechanisms in the Resource Allocation Framework (RAF) in order to ease the developing countries including LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS access to GEF financial resources.
17. Equally important is to work towards strengthening North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation in research, development and demonstration (RD&D) and to undertake initiatives towards mitigation and adaptation to climate change and its adverse impacts.
18. The United Nations has always been at the center of the Sustainable Development debate, including on its environmental protection pillar. This must be maintained. Climate Change should be pursued within the framework of the United Nations. It is important to emphasize that any special events or initiatives, whether individual, national, regional or multilateral should complement ongoing negotiations under the UNFCCC, which serve as the multilateral agreed structure within which the international community agreed to address the challenges of Climate Change. Such initiatives, in our view, should in fact provide impetus and political support to the ongoing processes by promoting global consensus on Climate Change and contribute to a successful conclusion of the forthcoming 13th Conference of Parties (COP.13) of UNFCCC/Third Meeting of Parties of the Kyoto Protocol, to be held in Bali, Indonesia in December 2007.
Distinguished Co-Chairs,
19. Let me say a few words about my own country. Although Pakistan is a large country, with the fifth largest population, it is a low Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emitter. Our total annual emissions are only 0.43% of world’s total i.e. 135th among all countries. However, the low emission status of the country provides no safety from the adverse effects of changing climate. Drylands cover about 80% of Pakistan’s land area.
20. Climate change is causing irrevocable damage to Pakistan, with tremendous social, environment and economic impacts. Agricultural productivity in Pakistan is being affected due to changes in land and water regimes. Dry land areas, in arid and semi-arid regions, are the most vulnerable. This is negatively affecting agricultural productivity by altering bio-physical relationships such as changing growing periods of the crops, altering scheduling of cropping seasons, changing irrigation water requirements, and increasing the risk of pests and diseases. Thus, climate change has put our food security at a great risk.
21. Climate Change also has adverse impacts on forest resources and natural ecosystems of the country. Even the glaciers in Himalayas are receding faster than any other part of the world. There are fears that many may disappear by 2050.
22. I take this opportunity to state that Pakistan is deeply committed to the global efforts to mitigate climate change impacts and has taken the following measures for improvement and protection of the environment:
23. As a developing country, Pakistan needs to undertake the following:
24. These measures however need additional financial resources to be obtained through international and regional cooperation. As earlier stated, the worst hit countries, like Pakistan, should be allocated a major share of the Adaptation Fund, the GEF and other resources to meet these challenges. I would also urge the developed countries to fulfill their commitments made in UN Conferences.
25. Let me also take this opportunity to highlight the increasing energy needs of Pakistan in the backdrop of our sound economic performance and high growth rates. We will have to rely on both traditional and non-traditional sources of energy including renewables to sustain the existing high growth rates and to take them to the next higher level. Use of hydel and nuclear energy would therefore be a natural option for Pakistan. We urge the international community including the private sector to support Pakistan’s endeavors in this regard.
26. To combat climate change, the international community should:
27. Pakistan will work closely to ensure that international community reaches an understanding on this vital issue during the 13th Session of Conference of Parties (CoP-13) to be held in Bali in December 2007.
I thank you Co-Chairs