Nairobi,
9 July 2008 - As the G8 Summit wrapped up
in Japan, Achim Steiner, the Executive Director
of the United Nations Environment Programme,
said the world's richest countries had shown
insufficient leadership on climate change.
"We are under pressure
to act. We have no time left to waste,"
said Mr Steiner. " However I think
the G8 leaders missed an opportunity to
provide the kind of signal that would accelerate
the international negotiation process,"
he added.
Mr Steiner noted that
the G8 countries' agreement to reduce carbon
emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2050
is a positive outcome of the summit.
"I think the G8
delivered what it could. But in terms of
what the world needs, what the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change has asked for and
what is necessary in view of the Copenhagen
meeting in 2009 the results fall short,"
he said. "The South African Minister
of the Environment called it empty slogans
- where is the substance?"
"The G8 Summit has
not delivered enough leadership. We have
some 500 days until we meet in Copenhagen
to reach a global agreement," the UN
Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive
Director said. "We have less than seven
years to stabilize emissions globally. The
absence of short- and medium-term targets
and commitments by the leading industrialized
nations is a shortfall of the summit."
"We are beyond
the rhetoric of climate change. We must
now put numbers on the table. We must also
give developing nations the clear conviction
that industrialized nations are taking their
responsibilities seriously," he said.
Mr Steiner noted that
a number of countries including Germany,
Norway and the UK as well as South Africa
and Indonesia are now committing to targets.
"But when we look
at the implementation of emission reduction
targets under the current Kyoto Protocol,
a number of industrialized nations are not
even delivering on these relatively small
targets. So what incentive is there for
developing nations to make major investments
if developed nations are not willing to
take these significant steps forward?"
"We will continue
to be stuck until all industrialized nations
commit to firm targets - ones to be met
by 2020 not in 42 years time," he said.
