11 Nov 2010

Delegates at Kiribati Climate conference issue a declaration

9:23 am on 11 November 2010

Delegates at the Kiribati Climate Change Conference in Tarawa have issued a declaration.

The Ambo Declaration is slated to be a non legally binding agreement between the nations to present at the upcoming United Nations climate change summit in Mexico

After drafting the declaration at the 19-nation Tarawa Climate Change Conference yesterday, 13 officials spent more than two hours deliberating the document, led by resistance from China.

The declaration covers the urgency of addressing the immediate effects of climate change, the need for fast funding to combat these concerns in vulnerable nations, and agrees upon an aim to make concrete decisions at the meeting in Cancun.

Kiribati President Anote Tong says the Tarawa conference tried to focus on where delegates would find agreement "rather than fight over different positions".

He told reporters he was still pushing for a legally binding agreement treaty to promote long-term action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.