steve mutiso's blog

The UN climate change talks have entered their final leg with prospects of getting a fair deal still a mirage.

This morning the president of COP15, Connie Hedegaard resigned and was replaced with the Danish Prime minister. This was reported as procedural but insiders say there were differences between the PM’s office and Connie’s department.

In a fair and democratic process, every deserving voice needs to be heard. When COP 15 opened last Monday, the African message was loud and clear, that a legally binding agreement based on the Kyoto protocol was the core to any mitigation work in Copenhagen. Voices from Africa spent the first week campaigning “don’t kill Kyoto, our only hope” As the week progressed, developed nations tried to circumvent the African call by attempting to keep the Kyoto but renege on the targets. The African campaign thus changed to “Don’t kill Kyoto, keep the Kyoto targets.

Political science will advise any leader wishing to use mercenaries to fight in national armies to handle the hired mercenaries with great care. The leader should pay them well and the leader should have a clear strategy of disposing them immediately the war machinery is taken back to the barracks. If these key principles are not well taken care of, the mercenaries are likely to become turncoats thus creating a bigger problem and disharmony. Listening to the COP this morning, one might be tempted to say that we are facing an era of climate turncoats.

The Kyoto protocol remains an important pillar in getting legally binding agreement here in Copenhagen. The negotiations on the KP hit a snag yesterday leading to the suspension of the COP. The negotiations seem to have reached a deadlock after developing countries pressed on to ensure the retention of the Kyoto. Developed countries on the other hand, are not keen on the Kyoto. Russia’s withdrawal of its emissions targets from a new commitment period under Kyoto provides clear evidence of this.