High-level advisory group on climate change must avoid pitfalls
LONDON, November 4, 2010 – Speaking in advance of the anticipated release of the recommendations of the High-level Advisory Group on Climate Finance, tomorrow, convened by UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon in the aftermath of the Copenhagen climate conference last year, Friends of the Earth’s Climate Campaigner Asad Rehman said:
“The recommendations of the High-Level Advisory Group could boost the chances of progress at the upcoming climate negotiations in Cancun – but they must avoid the pitfalls which will slow negotiations down to a crawl.
“It’s totally inappropriate for the countries who have mortgaged our planet’s future to lend money to developing countries to tackle climate change – and then leave them saddled with financial and environmental catastrophe.
“New money from the rich to the developing world must be in the form of grants, not loans.
“Recommendations for a global carbon market would risk a speculative trading bubble and a double whammy of financial and climatic disaster.
“There are a range of options already on the table which can generate, fairly and effectively, the $200 billion which is the minimum required annually for developing countries to tackle climate change.
“These should include a ‘Robin Hood tax’ on international financial transactions, a levy on international flights and ending fossil fuel subsidies.
“This new money should form part of a Global Climate Fund under the control of the UN, which would provide money for developing countries in a transparent and democratic way.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For Friends of the Earth’s Climate Campaigner Asad Rehman in London, contact press officer Henry Rummins, +44 (0) 20 7566 1649
Friends of the Earth International media coordinator Marlijn Dingshoff in Amsterdam: +31(0) 20 6221369
For further information on the Robin Hood tax, visit www.robinhoodtax.org.uk
