Small Island states worry negotiation pace
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Xinhua, December 9, 2011
Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) at the United Nation climate change conference on Thursday said it agreed with the European Union (EU) road map, but differed on the timeline.
Speaking at a press conference, AOSIS chairperson and head of Dominica's delegation said the Island state "can't wait up 2020".
"We agree with the road map that the EU has put out but we don't agree with the 2020 to come in to force. We believe we have all the ingredients to start work right now and to have a legal form by next year and bring it into force before 2017," Kenneth Darroux who is also Dominica's Environment Minister told journalists.
AOSIS is an intergovernmental organization of low-lying coastal and small Island nations established in 1990. The main purpose of the alliance is to consolidate the voices of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to address climate change.
"We can not accept 2020 as any time all to put anything into force. We believe the time is now because any pledges any targets must be based on sound scientific analysis and the science say to us we cannot wait up to 2020," he said.
"It seems to me there isn't enough seriousness in these negotiations," Fiji's Environment Minister Samuela Saumatua said. "We are not here for a vacation. We are here because we believe in multilateral process and more to that it will seem to me that the negotiations are going in circles," he said.
Saumatua said: "If we believe there is a problem with the planate why don't we address that problem. If we believe it's because of emissions why don't we address emission targets. If we believe we have to look on the science around that why don't we accept the science and set targets based upon these sciences."
"Why are we arguing for timeline that goes out of the science? For example speaking about 2020 as time when anything should come in force is what we totally reject. Because we believe we have all that it takes to begin the work right now. We believe waiting as a deserter," Saumatua told journalists.
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