News: The Sunday Times -  20 December 2009


Accord can form basis of future negotiations: PM
By Clarissa Oon, Senior Political Correspondent


(Picture: Wrap up meeting about United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen December 19, 2009. From left to right: Prof S. Jayakumar, Senior Minister and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs at the Radisson Blu Royal with the Singapore media. - ST Photo)


Copenhagen: The compromise agreement that concluded the climate change summit here is useful and can form the basis of future negotiations to address global warming, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

However, he also expressed disappointment with the fractious nature of the talks, and what he called 'sound and fury' and 'trench fighting over procedures'.

The Copenhagen Accord, a political statement rather than a legal agreement, was the product of the so-called BASIC group of countries - Brazil, America, South Africa, India and China. It remains opposed by many poorer countries and viewed with reservation by others, on the basis that it does not go far enough to tackle global warming.

World leaders including United States President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao were in Copenhagen for the critical final stage of the talks that began on Dec7.

The Singapore delegation led by PM Lee included Senior Minister S. Jayakumar and Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim.

Speaking to the Singapore media, Mr Lee said the accord was 'a useful basis to take the process forward'.

'We can continue discussing, using this in order to try and reach a less imperfect arrangement,' he said.

While all countries involved had 'no illusions' that Copenhagen would yield a legally-binding deal, it was still lamentable that basic points of disagreement among the countries were not surfaced before the conference, said Mr Lee.

As a result, the 13-day talks saw gruelling, round-the-clock negotiations during which 'every inch of ground' was contested, he noted.

Many negotiators were 'not in the right frame of mind' to take considered views which were 'practically realistic, politically feasible and showing a certain vision and detachment from the immediate close-quarter combat', he said.

He noted however that climate change negotiations were by their nature difficult, and remained optimistic that discussions would continue and a more constructive agreement reached at some stage. He stressed two points:

Firstly, climate change is a problem with a very long-term horizon. To tackle it, governments have to make commitments that may show results only decades from now, which is a difficult call to make.

Secondly, perspectives on climate change differ dramatically among countries. Some are rich and already environmentally conscious, while others are still developing and do not want to compromise on future economic growth.

He singled out countries with specific climate worries, such as small island states worried about being swamped by rising sea levels.

The measures to mitigate against climate change will involve, for many countries, 'very fundamental changes' to economic structures, lifestyles and even to political systems, he said.

'So to bring all this together, into a coherent proposal and a single set of objectives (that all 192 negotiating countries can agree on), I think, is a big challenge.'

The PM and his delegation left Copenhagen yesterday.