UN chief says domestic politics undermine climate fight
(February 05, 2009) A climate deal at Copenhagen may not be possible unless politicians
take tough decisions without worrying about winning elections and compulsions of their
domestic politics, the U.N. Secretary-General said on Thursday 5th of February.
Ban Ki-moon said the situation had been compounded by the global financial downturn
that was making it more difficult for the political leadership to take unpopular decisions.
"Their first priority is to get elected first of all, whatever maybe the case," Ban
told a conference on sustainable development in New Delhi. "But they must overcome
and look beyond this personal political leadership. They have to demonstrate their
leadership as a global leader. "For political leaders, there are always clearly some
political risks that they want to avoid. Political psychology in the midst of global
financial crisis, global downturn, is very weak to the voters." From rich nations
to developing countries many are shelving ambitions for deep cuts or caps in greenhouse
gas emissions as change. In countries such as India, the fourth-largest polluter
in the world, climate change is hardly seen as an election issue and barely features
on the agenda of political parties. Ban called on political leaders to look beyond
their domestic politics for a deal in Copenhagen. "We have to look at the whole generational
issues. Therefore please look beyond your own domestic concerns and look for the future,"
he said. About 190 countries are trying to craft a broader climate treaty to replace
the Kyoto Protocol that only binds wealthy nations to emissions targets between 2008
and 2012. The new deal is due to be wrapped in Copenhagen by December. Ban said Copenhagen's
success depended on how the political leadership responded to three main challenges.
He called on the governments, as well as the U.N. system must come up with credible
solutions for the governance of new funds, and for their implementation response."