Egypt: Equity counts when sharing the burden
- By staff reporter Mi Xingang in Doha, Qatar
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 3, 2012
The equity dimension should be highlighted when addressing climate change as developed and developing countries share collective yet differentiated responsibilities, an Egyptian delegate explained when he sat down with reporters from China.org.cn during the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar, on December 1.
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Ahmed Ihad Gamaleldin (C), Egypt's Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, receives interview at the Doha conference. [Mi Xingang/China.org.cn] |
Egypt's Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development Ahmed Ihad Gamaleldin, additionally one of the two core chairs of the Arab group at the negotiating level, illustrated how Arab nations consider the Doha Conference a key step between the completion of Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action and the arrival of a legally binding second commitment to the Kyoto Protocol starting in January 2013.
"We are currently still in an exploratory phase, trying to figure out how to ensure the new Durban platform's consistency with the principles and provisions of the Convention, and how to work in the equity dimension,"Gamaleldin said. He pointed out that the historical responsibilities of developed countries should be taken into consideration here and that the burden is ought to be shared equally. The provision of necessary implementation means for developing nations is needed to guarantee their ability to adapt to climate change as well as to contribute to the international mitigation effort, he said.
As the Durban conference has developed a comprehensive and constructive package, all countries can now confidently move into a new phase. "It is going to be difficult, yet we continue to hope that the developed countries will eventually present us with more ambitious numbers,"Gamaleldin said. He added that it is important for all nations to take their responsibilities seriously. "Only this way can we preserve the credibility of the multilateral system and show the public its effectiveness,"he said.
The G77, China, Africa and several other like-minded countries share Egypt's concerns on the issue of equity and equitable access to the atmospheric space by the developing world, he said.
On a final note, Gamaleldin expressed that joint efforts with many middle-income- countries will continue to be made in order to realize collectively better-off conditions.
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