LOC12:19
09:19 GMT
GLAND, Switzerland, December 19 (KUNA) -- The World Wide Fund (WWF)
expressed on Saturday its disappointment over the results of the Copenhagen
Climate Summit and considered its results as "a gap between theory and
application."
The Swiss-based WWF said in a statement, "The end of the summit does not
mean the end, but fighting global warming requires political will to implement
what was agreed upon."
Leader of WWF Global Climate Initiative, Kim Carstensen, said, "They tell
us it's over but it's not. The latest Copenhagen Accord draft mainly
reproduced what leaders already promised before they arrived to the Danish
capital."
"The biggest challenge, turning the political will into a legally binding
agreement, after years of negotiations we now have a declaration of will which
does not bind anyone and therefore fails to guarantee a safer future for next
generations," said Carstensen. "What was good about Copenhagen was the level
of national pledges for climate action in most countries."
Carstensen added that politically, we live in a world that agreed to stay
below the danger zone of two degrees but practically what was on the table
added up to three degrees or more.
"A gap between the rhetoric and reality could cost millions of lives,
hundreds of billions of dollars and a wealth of lost opportunities. We are
disappointed but remain hopeful. The civil society will continue watching
every step of further negotiations. The leaders have to get back to work
tomorrow," Carstensen added.
"Getting a strong outcome of the follow-up process will take a lot of
bridge-building between the rich and the poor countries. We expect that the
Mexican hosts will be ideally placed to play that role," Carstensen concluded.
(end)
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KUNA 191219 Dec 09NNNN