Cardinal Keith O'Brien will tell world leaders to put aside 'political wrangling and national self-interest' and prioritise the needs of the world's poor during high-level climate change talks with Heads of States at the United Nations (UN) in New York today and tomorrow (21st / 22nd September).
Heading a delegation of bishops and climate experts from developed and developing countries, the Cardinal will be representing the CIDSE and Caritas Internationalis (CI) coalitions of Catholic aid agencies, including leading Scottish aid agency SCIAF, which together represent the largest humanitarian and development alliance in the world.
Ahead of the meetings Cardinal O'Brien said: "Climate change is another situation where the poor of the world are paying for the over-consumption of the rich. Global warming is too important an issue for political wrangling and short-term national interest.
"Leaders should be getting down to serious negotiations for the sake of all humanity. Instead, we are seeing political disagreements and a lack of commitment. The lives of millions of people in the developing world, who have done least to cause the problem, are at stake".
The UN high-level negotiations in New York are part of a series of UN-led events to agree a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol which will be finalised in Copenhagen in December, and seen by many as the last chance to tackle dangerous climate change. Currently, industrialised nations are falling short in their commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide sufficient funding to help developing countries cope and adapt to climate change.
Cardinal O'Brien will take part in a UN Leadership Forum on Climate Change with Heads of States and key players within the UN, including Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Yvo de Boer, head of the UNFCCC, the body responsible for facilitating the development of a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol.
Cardinal O'Brien continued: "Wealthy nations bear the greatest responsibility for creating this problem because of their large-scale emissions of greenhouse gases, which result from the burning of fossil fuels to generate economic wealth.
"During my meetings today and tomorrow I will be calling on all Heads of States from wealthy industrialised nations to show the moral and political leadership that is urgently needed. They must give this issue the highest political priority over the coming months and commit to attending the Copenhagen Summit in December to make sure a strong and equitable agreement is reached.
"I will also be pointing out that in my own country, Scotland, we have shown through our ambitious Climate Act, which commits Scotland to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020 (on 1990 levels), that it is possible to take the urgent political action necessary to head off the worst effects of climate change."
SCIAF's Chief Executive Paul Chitnis will be part of the delegation. He said: "High levels of existing poverty, poor infrastructure, and the strong dependence on rain-fed agriculture mean that people living in developing countries are so much more vulnerable than we in developed nations.
"All wealthy nations must start committing to substantial reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions, and provide the necessary financial and technical support to help developing countries adapt to climate change, if a meaningful global agreement on the issue is to be agreed in Copenhagen in December."
The UN Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that between 2000 and 2004, 262 million people a year were affected by climate disasters, with 98 per cent of these being in developing countries.
The Global Humanitarian Forum headed by former Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan estimates that 300,000 people are already dying each year from climate related causes, with a further 300 million affected.
Access to food, clean water and health is already a huge problem which will be increasingly exacerbated by global warming.
Notes to editors:
A broadcast-quality audio statement by Cardinal O'Brien is available. For this and all other enquiries, contact Val Morgan on 01786 841100 / 07914 408 589 or email: vmorgan@sciaf.org.uk.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien is the present Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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