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Mexico City, 23 November 2008 - Seventy senior legislators from across the Americas endorsed today the commitment expressed by US President elect, Barack Obama, in linking economic recovery to a long term view of sustainability and fully supported his vision of reducing US greenhouse gas emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
Gathered in Mexico City November 21-23 to examine how to overcome the twin challenges of the global financial and climate crises, legislators called for a ministerial forum with finance, energy and environment ministers of the Americas to be organized together with senior legislators with the objective of coordinating actions ahead of crucial climate negotiations to take place in Copenhagen, later next year.
Hosted by the Mexican Congress, this first meeting of the GLOBE Americas Legislators' Forum brought together senior legislators from North, Central, South American and Caribbean countries.
“In the context of the current economic slowdown, the Forum emphasized that the low carbon agenda can act as an engine for economic recovery while at the same time increasing energy and climate security,” said Elliot Morley MP, President of GLOBE International. “The final declaration of the Forum, including support for enhanced action by the emerging economies, is a significant advance ahead of the UNFCCC talks in Poland in December, and demonstrates that it is possible for politicians from the developed and developing world to break the current deadlock and agree on a way ahead,” added Morley.
In the outcome statement, legislators “urged governments to consider policies to stimulate their economies, while grasping the opportunity to restructure the current economic model to focus on key elements of our future prosperity - economic recovery, improving energy and climate security and making progress towards poverty reduction”.
They welcomed industrialised country recognition of the critical role of emerging economies in being part of the solution to the economic crisis as established by the recent G-20 Summit, and called for a similar approach in the global climate debate.
“Mexico, as an emerging economy and member of the OECD, is uniquely placed as a bridge between the developed and developing world. Climate Change will be one of the key challenges for all politicians in the coming years and this Forum provides a real opportunity to discuss the kind of regulatory, fiscal and legislative measures that we will need to take to both mitigate and adapt to climate change.” said Mexican Congressman Miguel Angel Jimenez, a coordinator of the Forum.
“Industrialized countries should take on binding emissions reductions, including legislation”—the declarations says—“ leading to an aggregate reduction of at least 25-40% from 1990 levels by 2020. In return, the most advanced developing countries should aim at reduce the rate of increase of their own emissions by 2020, with a view of taking on binding reductions thereafter, subject to industrialized countries delivering on their commitments in terms of emissions reductions, technology transfer and finance”.
The declaration endorsed several initiatives paving the way for a new financial architecture on climate change and highlighted the recently created Climate Investment Funds with $US 6 billion managed by the World Bank and the Mexican proposal of a Green Fund to be set up after 2012 with financial contributions according to country emissions levels and ability to pay.
It also recognized the role of bio-fuels, establishing that “ bio-fuels, together with efficiency standards, are one of the few options to reduce emissions from transport in the short and medium term”. Legislators supported “ the production and use of bio-fuels, subject to strict sustainable economic and environmental standards, while protecting land from food production”.
The Forum urged the international community to review “trade tariffs and other barriers for bio-fuels that meet the sustainability criteria to allow those countries with a comparative advantage in their productions (tropical and sub-tropical) to develop viable industries...”
“We have demonstrated regional leadership in areas such as forestry, bio-fuels and adaptation and are convinced that the current economic circumstances provide a unique opportunity to put in place the investment needed to create the low carbon infrastructure, including properly valuing our natural environment, that is essential to our future prosperity,” said senior Brazilian Senator Serys Slhessarenko.
The Americas is an extremely diverse region containing both highly developed and developing economies. This Forum represented an opportunity for politicians from across the development divide to demonstrate real leadership in addressing the connections between climate change, the economy, energy, and food security.
About GLOBE International:
- GLOBE is the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment
- GLOBE consists of senior cross-party members of parliament from all G8 countries and the +5 countries of Brazil , China , India , Mexico and South Africa;
- GLOBE shadows the formal G8 negotiations (formally participating in the G8 Environment Ministerial and Gleneagles Dialogue) and facilitates high level dialogues and negotiations between legislators on effective environmental and climate change regulation and legislation;
- GLOBE has produced formally negotiated policy recommendations from one hundred senior G8+5 legislators on an international co-operation framework for climate change beyond 2012, on sustainable biofuels and on illegal logging as well as position papers on market mechanisms, technology transfer, adaptation and energy efficiency;
- These position papers feed formally into the G8 negotiations as well as through the legislators to their respective head of government and party leaders;
- GLOBE's objective is to support ambitious political leadership, on issues of environment and sustainable development, from G8 leaders and the leaders of the major emerging economies. This is achieved through the development of high level negotiated policy positions from leading legislators from across the parliaments of the G8 and +5 and informed by business leaders and key international experts.
About COM+
The COM+ Alliance (Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development) is a partnership of international organizations and communications professionals from diverse sectors committed to using communications to advance a vision of sustainable development that integrates its three pillars: economic, social, and environmental. By offering a platform to share expertise, develop best practice, and create synergies, COM+ hopes to actively support creative and inspiring communications across the world to bring sustainable development closer to the public. COM+ members include The World Conservation Union, UNEP, WB, CGIAR, GEF, Inter Press Service, BBC World Service Trust, Reuters Foundation, DEV TV, IFEJ, WBCSD, TVE, Southern Caucus of NGOs, Green Facts, Thomson Foundation, TVEAP, among others.
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