IG77 blasts the Danish draft, UN terms it informal paper

The draft text, which was leaked, is a "serious and unfortunate development. It is a major violation that threatens the success of the Copenhagen negotiating process," said Sudan's Lumumba Stanislas Dia Ping, who heads the G77 group.

The G-77 and China called on the Prime Minister of Denmark, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, not to make any such further attempts and also affirmed that the group would not walk out of Copenhagen and work towards an equitable outcome till the last minutes of the conference.

UN climate change chief Yvo de Boer said this draft was on a decision paper put forward by Danish Prime Minister.
"This was an informal paper ahead of the conference given to a number of people for the purposes of consultations. The only formal texts in the UN process are the ones tabled by the Chairs of this Copenhagen conference at the behest of the Parties," he added.

On the cap of two degree Celsius, Di-Aping told journalists, that this figure had never been accepted by the African group and had gained momentum because "the G8 though it would be feasible" warning that this cap would lead to the disappearance of Small Island States and would result in the misery of more than a hundred countries.

The chairperson also highlighted that the Danish draft did not consider any of the proposals from the developing countries especially the notion of "common but differentiated" responsibility that is the backbone of the UNFCCC agreement, which undermined two years of negotiations.

"Perhaps it is the Danish idea that developing nations are not competent and knowledgeable enough to articulate their views," he said. "The strategic intent of this text is aimed at superimposing a solution."

The G77 held the host of the Copenhagen negotiations, Rasmussen personally responsible for the production of the document, stating that it is "very unfortunate that the man trusted to lead the process will fail."
"We call upon the Prime Minister of this country to refrain from such attempts," he added.

When asked if the G77 and China would walk out of the negotiations in light of these recent developments, the chairperson firmly stated that "G77 member states will not walk out of these consultations because we cannot afford a failure at Copenhagen."
Negotiators from 192 countries have come to Copenhagen to hammer out a climate change treaty as the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.