“Vietnam welcomes proposal of a 10-billion-dollar Copenhaghen Launch Fund which will be mounted from 2010 to 2013, aiming at helping developing countries reduce greenhouse gases and adapt to climate change”.
That was the affirmation of the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in an online conference held on December 2nd on discussing initiatives for the UN Summit Conference on Climate Change due on December 18th in Copenhaghen (Denmark).
The conference had the participation of Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rassmussen, UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia.
PM Nguyen Tan Dung highly valued vital initiatives to protect the earth’s climate system, appreciated Danish PM’s efforts, as well as the conference’s outcomes to prepare for the coming Summit Conference.
Expressing Vietnam’s point of view, Vietnamese PM said the earth is a common house of human beings. So, there needs joint efforts of all countries throughout the world to combat climate change.
Provided being amended and supplemented with new regulations for high-CO2 emitters, the UN’s Framework Convention and the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change are still fundamental legal documents for international community to respond to climate change.
The PM said, it’s up to developed countries to take the initiative in launching strong commitments to and targets on greenhouse gases reduction which should be obligatory, to keep the global average temperature not to increase beyond 2oC above by the end of this century.
Meanwhile, there should be assistance, in terms of financial mechanism, technology transfer process…, for developing countries to cope with climate change, particularly sea-level rising.
The PM stressed that developed countries and high-CO2 emitters, international financial institutions should pledge preferential mechanisms on capital, technology transfer, capacity building… to countries heavily affected by climate change, including Vietnam.
Developing countries should actively contribute to global effort by developing and mounting action plans to cut down greenhouse gases, in accordance with their specific circumstances, on volunteer basis, ensuring sustainable development goals.
The PM suggested that there should be an organization whose duties are to guide and gather all anti-climate change actions among international community. He called on international community, especially developed countries and international organizations to support Vietnam in responding to climate change and sea-leve rising.
Other leaders agreed that developed countries should have specific commitments to CO2 reduction, new and clean technology transfer to developing countries; to set up a joint coordinating committee aiming at fostering commitment implementation at the Summit Conference.
UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon highly valued countries’ contribution in preparation for the coming Summit Conference, particularly obligatory legal commitments for the post-2010 period which include financial assistance for developing countries to cope with climate change. He called on developed countries to give further support for countries that vulnerable to climate change.
T.P (TITC)