4 Dec 2015

Tuvalu PM lashes out at 'painfully slow' COP21 process

11:43 am on 4 December 2015

Tuvalu's prime minister, Enele Sopoaga, says negotiations in Paris for a new climate change agreement are painfully slow.

Tuvalu Enele Sopoaga

Tuvalu's Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga Photo: RNZI / Jamie Tahana

Mr Sopoaga says there is no transparency, there are a lot of twist and turns and the process is an injustice.

He has accused the United States and the European Union of employing delaying tactics and labelled as unfortunate the decision not to invite Tuvalu to a meeting with President Barack Obama two days ago.

Mr Sopoaga says Tuvalu does not want a declaration of intent but a legally binding agreement out of COP21 in Paris.

He has also lashed out at the bureaucracy surrounding access to global climate change adaptation funding.

Mr Sopoaga says the principle that polluters pay should be anchored in the Paris Declaration, and that new and adequate finance should be made available.

He has described as shameful the current practice of getting vulnerable nations like Tuvalu pay for their own climate change adaptation projects.

Mr Sopoaga says bigger and wealthier nations should also stop the injustice of using ODA money to fund climate change adaptation work in countries that are vulnerable to climate change impacts.

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