Annan chides inaction on climate
November 15, 2006
UN chief Kofi Annan has criticised a "frightening lack of leadership" in tackling global warming, at a major UN climate summit in Nairobi.
Mr Annan told delegates at the three-day conference the phenomenon was one of the world's biggest threats.
He said sceptics were "out of step, out of arguments and out of time".
Ways to bring clean energy projects to Africa and help the continent to adapt to climate change are among key measures expected to be announced.
Ministers from 189 countries will begin discussing draft agreements prepared over the last week and a half.
Environmental groups however are bemoaning a lack of ambition on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
'Lack of urgency'
Deals have been reached on many of the issues outstanding two days ago.
But delegates have failed to agree a timetable for the completion of discussions on globally binding emissions cuts beyond the existing Kyoto Protocol targets.
"Just two weeks ago the Stern Report made clear that urgent global action is needed to head off the devastating human, environmental and economic impacts of climate change," said Catherine Pearce, international climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth UK.
"So far at Nairobi we have seen precious little sense of urgency."
The BBC News website's environment correspondent Richard Black says there was never a chance of the targets themselves being negotiated here.
But many observers maintain that unless a clear timetable emerges there will not be enough time to get new targets into place before 2012, when the Kyoto targets expire.
Fund management
One outstanding issue which has for now been resolved concerns the management of the Adaptation Fund, designed to help the poorest countries protect themselves against climate impacts.
A bloc of richer countries had been arguing for the fund to be administered by the Global Environment Facility (Gef), a UN affiliate which already manages many environmental funds.
Some developing countries argued that Gef constraints were too stringent.
Our correspondent says for the moment they have got their way in a compromise deal which will see the fund governed by a new body with a guaranteed majority of developing country delegates, though Gef might still be called in to manage it under this new body.
"The fund is how we [the richer developing countries] share the benefits of clean development with the poorest countries, the countries which produce least greenhouse gases and so have few options for mitigating their emissions," said Bernaditas Muller, head of the Philippines delegation, who spoke for the G-77 bloc during negotiations.
"It can't be treated like donor money - it's our money, a solidarity fund."
Ministers can over the next three days revisit any of the areas which appear to have been agreed, and lengthy negotiations are anticipated.
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