In
Warsaw,
Amid Dispute
on Loss &
Damage, Ban
Says It's
Up to (Some?)
States
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 20 --
After the
developing
countries in
the Group
of 77 walked
out of the
climate change
talks in
Warsaw on the
issue
of "loss and
damage," Inner
City Press on
Wednesday in
New
York asked UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
what Ban would
like to see
happen, since
this along
with Darfur
now
Syria are his
main issues.
Haq
replied that
"the
Secretary-General
has made it
clear that
that’s an
issue to be
resolved by
the States who
are attending
these talks.
And we are
leaving that
decision
there, in
their
hands."
To
some this
approach seems
strange. On
Syria, when
resolutions
were
vetoed Ban
expressed
disappointment.
Before Ban
even saw Ake
Sellstrom's
report on
chemical
weapons he called it
overwhelming
and
said Assad had
committed many
crimes against
humanity.
After
being nearly
silent during
the slaughter
of 40,000
civilians in
Sri
Lanka in 2009,
Ban has come
out with, if
not issued, a
"Rights
Up
Front" plan
which says his
Secretariat
will take
leadership
positions.
But not on
this?
Some
point at the
smaller but
more powerful
-- read,
richer --
roster of
countries who
don't want to
deal with
"loss and
damage"
before 2015,
and wonder
whether "the
member states"
means
SOME member
states.
There was more
to Haq's
answer, and so
in fairness we
run
this from the
UN's
transcript,
cleaning up
the choppiness
the UN
leaves or
inserts we're
told at
direction to
undermine the
questions:
Inner
City
Press: From
the climate
talks in
Warsaw it is
reported that
a
block of
developing
nations are
very angry and
walking out
due to the
failure to
address who
should pay for
damages like
the typhoon in
the
Philippines
under the loss
and damage
provision
damage, and
that
Australia said
it should only
be discussed
after 2015.
Given the
importance of
this issue to
so many
countries and
to the issue
of
climate
change, does
the
Secretary-General
have any view
of whether
this issue of
compensation
for damages
caused by
climate change
should be
dealt with
now, or should
be put back
beyond 2015?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: Yes,
while he has
been speaking
in Warsaw,
the
Secretary-General
has made it
clear that
that’s an
issue to be
resolved by
the States who
are attending
these talks.
And we are
leaving that
decision
there, in
their hands.
But,
he
has been very
clear about
the need for
nations to
come together
at
these talks;
he wants the
Conference of
Parties that
is under way
in
Warsaw to be a
useful
stepping stone
in this
process.
And
one
of the things
he said is I
agree that we
are all in
this
together. We
need to work
together. We
need to be
united and we
need to have
solidarity
among all the
people around
the world.
No
single
country, no
single
organization,
can address
this problem
on
its own. Yet,
every single
country can
benefit from
climate action
at the global
level. So, he
is urging a
unified
stance, and
let’s
see how that
develops.
Yeah,
let's see.
Watch this
site.
, 
