9 July 2009
‘Like the G8, the seventeen nations that form the Major Economies Forum (MEF) are adopting a strategy of deferral and delay.
‘The MEF contribute 80 per cent of global emissions. Today they could have called on developed countries to deliver money in the range of $150billion per year to help developing countries respond to climate change. They failed to do this, so the deadlock in negotiations is likely to remain.
‘The communique released today outlines that the MEF will ‘spare no effort’ to reach an agreement in Copenhagen. With no figures on the table from rich nations, once again developing countries are being served up platitudes and rhetoric.
‘This rolling dialogue points in the opposite direction to urgency and must not continue. We now have to wait until the September UN meetings when the heads of state will gather once again.
‘What we are seeing here is very little silver lining on the huge cloud of injustice that will burst with devastating consequences for countries that bear the brunt of global warming, if world leaders don’t agree on a finance package ahead of the Copenhagen climate summit.’
Paul Cook
Advocacy Director, Tearfund