By IANS,
Pittsburgh : The G20 leaders have closed their summit here without the industrialised countries following through on their pledge to provide financial and technological assistance to help developing countries limit their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, an umbrella group of NGOs said here Friday night.
Hours after the G20 summit closed, Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said: “Overall, the Pittsburgh G20 summit represents a missed opportunity to move the ball forward on climate change.
“On the critical issue of funding for developing countries to deploy clean technologies, reduce deforestation, and adapt to the impacts of global warming, the G20 leaders didn’t take the bold steps needed to break the current deadlock in the climate negotiations.”
The union is a member of the Climate Action Network, a group of over 450 NGOs around the world.
“If there’s to be a meaningful climate deal in Copenhagen this December, the European Union, Japan, the United States and other industrialised countries must put a serious finance package on the table,” Meyer said.
“All the best rhetoric in the world won’t build a single wind turbine, save a single acre of rainforest, or help a single village deal with the impacts of climate change. It’s time for these industrialised countries to put their money where their mouths are, and the hour is getting late.”
The NGOs applauded the agreement at the summit to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Meyer said: “There is no rational argument for continuing to pay companies and consumers to pump more and more carbon pollution into the atmosphere.
“But we should be clear that the road ahead will be challenging, both in the United States and other countries. Oil and coal companies view these taxpayer subsidies as entitlements, and their champions in Congress and other legislatures will fiercely resist their elimination. That said, this is an important and most welcome initiative, and we will support efforts by President Obama and other leaders to turn it into reality.”