African civil groups demand massive climate change compensation

Ekklesia (UK): A number of key African civil society organisations have come together with church development campaigners, to demand billions in compensation from rich countries for the impacts of global warming. The demand comes at the close of the United Nations climate change talks in Accra, Ghana.

A number of countries, including the Philippines on behalf of the G77 group of developing countries and China, have made proposals for financing a global response to climate change. During the meetings the European Union was forced to admit that it had nothing significant to put on the table at this point.

"A serious and equitable response to climate change will require rich countries to pay billions in public funds to help poor countries develop in a sustainable, low carbon manner. So why have the EU, which like to claim global leadership in the response to climate change, turned up with empty pockets again?" asked Nelson Muffuh, adviser on the UN climate talks to the UK-baed international development agency Christian Aid.

Acting as a pan-African alliance for climate justice, the African organisations are clear that any response to climate change must see rich countries taking on their full responsibility for the problem. … Ewah Eleri, from the International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development in Nigeria said: ‘Developed countries need to demonstrate their seriousness about tackling climate change by committing funds to compensate poor countries for the damage caused by their greenhouse gas emissions and finance clean development. Palliatives will no longer do.’...

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