President Bharrat Jagdeo. *Photo credit: thereddsite.files.wordpress.com

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – President Bharrat Jagdeo has warned that the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Denmark will be a failure unless a binding document is agreed upon instead of just political consensus.

Jagdeo said if world leaders leave the Danish capital without a binding commitment, history will judge them for the injustice in condemning millions of people for  not getting the results to save them, adding that the world should not be satisfied with political rhetoric or platitudes.

“Copenhagen will be a failure unless we leave with a binding agreement including mandatory commitments from developed countries to be codified within an international treaty within six months,” Jagdeo said prior to his departure for the talks on Friday.

He explained that the goal of the meeting is to stabilise global temperatures but that there are complications in achieving that target as there is still some level of lack of political commitment on sections of the developed world.

“Never before have science, economics, geo-strategic self-interest and politics intersected in such a way on an issue that impacts everyone on the planet,” he explained, noting that it would be tempting to be daunted by the scale of what needs to be done as a global community.”

The President said that the negotiations will be deemed a failure unless those gathered for the summit acknowledge that even temperature stabilisation at 2°C above pre-industrial levels is too high.

“We must put in place arrangements to regularly review the science behind climate change, and find measures to increase our ambition if needs be.  And Copenhagen will be a failure unless it agrees to significant financial transfers from Annex I countries to the developing world,” he added.

The Copenhagen talks are geared toward a new deal to replace the 12-year old Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.

“I will be going to Copenhagen with a message that the people of Guyana want to act, I will be pointing to the progress we have made so far and the process that is underway,” Jagdeo said in an address to the nation.

Jagdeo said the nation has indicated its commitment to help in the fight against global warming based on their involvement in the country’s low carbon development which is aimed at creating a green economy for this Caribbean nation.

“They have started to come up with meaningful, relevant ideas on how we in Guyana can protect ourselves from climate change, help the world store carbon through the deployment of our forests, and move the rest of our economy onto a low carbon trajectory.

“I challenge anyone to show me any other country in the world where as large a proportion of the population has engaged in an endeavour as comprehensive as this,” he said.