12 Dec 2008

Deep Pacific disappointment over Polish climate talks

2:04 pm on 12 December 2008

A United Nations climate change conference in Poland has failed to meet the expectations of its Pacific participants.

The executive director of Oxfam New Zealand says NGOs are deeply disappointed at the lack of concrete progress made at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change conference, which officially ends tomorrow.

More than 10 Pacific countries are parties to the Convention, which aimed at this meeting to make significant progress towards a new international pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.

But Barry Coates says a heroic performance by Pacific countries has not been enough to galvanise the richer countries into action.

"Tuvalu made an absolutely emotive and powerful appeal at the assembly today. Other Pacific countries have really stepped up to the mark. They've also quoted science, they've tried to keep the richer countries honest in terms of what their commitments should be...I think it'd be good if when they came back to the Pacific they were celebrated as really having done a good job"

Barry Coates of Oxfam New Zealand.