G77+China, ALBA Back Bolivia in Climate Talks in Bangkok

World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth
April 5, 2011
Communiqué
Bangkok, Thailand

Pablo Solón

“We would like to express our profound worry due to the fact that two decisions were adopted in the framework of the Cancun climate negotiations despite the formal and explicit objection made by a Member State. We consider this a dangerous precedent that should not be repeated under the Framework Convention on Climate Change,” said Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela in the name of the regional group ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our Americas) at United Nations climate talks in Bangkok today. The countries emphasized that “these illegal practices are affecting the Plurinational State of Bolivia, a country that has the same rights as all others, and tomorrow, any other country present here could be affected.”

During the inaugural session of the climate talks, the G77 and China, a group comprising 131 developing countries, said that “as we move toward Durban [for the next annual climate change conference], the path should be to ensure a multilateral process that is transparent, open, and driven by the Member States, and also brings us toward consensus.” The statement alluded to the fact that the adoption of decisions without consensus in Cancun should not be repeated.

In its speech, ALBA backed the positions of Bolivia, saying: “We do not consider the results of Cancun a step forward for the Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol, but rather, a step backward.”

On behalf of the Bolivian delegation, Ambassador Pablo Solón thanked countries for their support and offered the following analogy: “If we compare global warming to a wildfire, we would say that the process of negotiation in Cancun resembled a long meeting of firemen who decided to throw a single bucket of water onto the fire, while declaring, ‘one bucket is better than nothing,’ ‘ the perfect is the enemy of the good,’ and ‘this is just the first bucket’ – then held a press conference to announce that gradual progress was being made, and that they had ‘saved the process of negotiation among the firemen’ while the flames engulfed a town. Solón concluded: “Cancun saved the firemen and their bosses, and now in Durban we have to save the climate and humanity.”

In order for Durban to be a success, and to avoid a catastrophic rise in global temperature of 4° to 5° Celsius during this century, developed countries must make real, domestic emission reduction commitments of 40 to 50%.