Leaked climate draft sparks anger

Leaked climate draft sparks anger

Developing nations taking part in the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen have criticised a leaked document which proposes that more power be granted to rich nations. The document, which was leaked on Tuesday by The Guardian, a British newspaper, also suggests that the UN's negotiating role should be sidelined and that the legally-binding Kyoto protocol be abandoned. The Guardian reported that the text was drawn up by representatives of a small group of rich nations. The US, UK and Denmark are thought to be among those involved in the drafting of the proposals. in depth Developing countries have said that the text is part of a plan by rich nations to set unequal limits on carbon emissions in 2050, according to a confidential analysis of the proposals that The Guardian also obtained. Alan Fisher, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Copenhagen, said leaks are made because people want to make certain positions public. "There are two possible reasons for the leak. One is that Western nations were saying - this is our bottom line, these are the draconian measures we are prepared to take to safe-guard our interests," Fisher said. "Or it could have been the developing nations saying - if you are even considering anything like this, there is going to be a revolt you have never seen the like of before. "The Danes are not denying that the document exists, but they are saying it doesn't carry any official weight at all." Unequal emissions target The analysis says that the text worked on by rich nations is a strategy to get developing countries to agree to specific emission cuts, the newspaper reported. The text seeks to set a limit on developing nations that would not allow them to emit more than 1.44 tonnes of carbon per person by 2050 - while developed nations will be allowed to discharge 2.67 tonnes per head. The draft is also understood to call for handing control of climate change finance to the World Bank. Waldon Bello, the director of "Focus on the Global South", a non-governmental organisation specialising in policy research, said that the text was evidence of a "betrayal" on the part of rich nations. "This is a terrible document - the idea that there would be differential limits put on emissions to favour the north [and] the fact that there would be abandonment of the only legitimate framework, which is the Kyoto Protocol," he said. "This is not what developing countries were expecting. They were expecting the north to make a serious offer and this is definitely not a serious offer at this point in time. This shows that there is just no 'give' when it comes to the north." Funding gap On the same day that the text was leaked, a senior Chinese negotiator told reporters in Copenhagen that the US's emissions target was not notable, that the EU's was not enough, and that Japan's came with impossible conditions. He also criticised talk of developed nations contributing $10bn annually to poor countries to help them cope with climate change, saying that more money is needed. The US, UK and Denmark are thought to be involved in drafting the document [AFP] Estimates of how much it would costs to enact a climate change plan vary widely. Nicholas Stern, the British government adviser on climate change, says developing countries could use $130bn dollars per year. The bulk of it, $75bn, would be spent on coping with the effects of climate change, with another $40bn going towards research and development of greener technologies and $15bn for forest conservation. Those estimates are much lower than those given by the World Bank, which reports that poor countries would need $550bn dollars a year - including $400bn for technology development and $150bn to cope with the effects of climate change. If global temperatures are to rise no more than two degrees Celsius by 2050, the International Energy Agency says $10 trillion of energy-related investments will have to be made over the next two decades.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Al-Maliki urges unity after attacks

Al-Maliki urges unity after attacks

The attacks on government targets left 127 dead and at least 500 others with injuries [AFP] Iraq's prime minister has called for the international community to do more to safeguard the country, a day after at least 127 people were killed in a series of co-ordinated bomb blasts across Baghdad. Nouri al-Maliki also called on Wednesday for Iraqis to work together to help defeat those he accused of aiming to undermine the country's stability. "Our enemies - the enemies of freedom, democracy, stability and security - they range their malice against our continued achievement," he said in Baghdad. "However, they cannot live under the challenges that we impose on them, where all the Iraqi peoples join hands ... Our people live above their differences. It is our role to join hands and transcend our differences. "We cannot let these differences undermine our efforts to face the challenges where, if our enemies triumph, it will leave no space to anyone in this country." US condemnation The United States on Tuesday condemned the deadly attacks in Iraq pledging "to support the Iraqi people as they face down violent extremism". Less than nine months before the US is to pull out combat troops from Iraq, the attacks in the capital, Baghdad, underlined concerns over the readiness of Iraqi forces to handle security alone. Iraqi authorities faced angry questions about how bombers again found holes in Iraqi security and the attacks prompted Joe Biden, the US vice-president, to call on Iraq's leaders to show support. "The United States strongly condemns these attacks on the Iraqi people and their elected government," Biden's office said on Tuesday. Deadline on track The attack came days after Barack Obama, the US president pledged that US forces would meet the deadline to withdraw US combat troops from Iraq by August next year, and completely pull out by the end of 2011. In video The US says despite the violence Iraqi leaders are moving the country in the right direction Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed that on Tuesday, saying the co-ordinated violence would not derail plans to begin withdrawing US troops from Iraq. "Certainly we're always looking at plans that take into consideration other outcomes, but right now we just don't see anything at this point in time that would require us to execute those," the senior US military officer said. The planned drawdown of US forces from Iraq in the medium-term is in contrast to Obama's strategy on Afghanistan, to which the US president last week committed 30,000 more troops. Mullen said: "Clearly I've got my increase in Afghanistan on a balance with the decrease in Iraq, and I can actually execute that within some margin. So it is by no means one for one, or even one brigade for one brigade kind of thing. "For the worst case kinds of options, obviously, it would start to impede. But right now I don't think we're even close to that." Co-ordinated attacks Tuesday's attacks in Baghdad - the third such co-ordinated wave of attacks to devastate the capital since August - struck government targets across the city in rapid succession, leaving at least 127 people dead and at least 513 injured. Five bomb-laden vehicles were driven into a finance ministry office, a tunnel leading to the labour ministry, a courthouse, a police patrol, and interior ministry offices in central Baghdad. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Iraqi officials said the attacks bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda and fighters loyal to Saddam Hussein's Baath party who plunged the country into sectarian bloodshed and chaos in 2006-2007. The blasts underlined concerns over Iraqi troops' readiness to handle security [AFP] The last two major strikes on Iraqi government sites were co-ordinated blasts in August and October this year that killed more than 255 people. Sunni groups linked to al-Qaeda claimed those attacks. The latest attacks came hours before an official said that Iraq's general election - the second since US-led troops overthrew Saddam as president - would be held on March 6. The election is seen as crucial to consolidating Iraq's fledgling democracy ahead of the planned US withdrawal. Mullen said US troops would not be drawn down until after the elections. He said US commanders believe that even with the delay in the elections – originally scheduled to be held in January - the force can come down by 50,000 troops by August. But he said the US military is paying close attention to the situation and working to help Iraqi security forces to address any shortfalls. "We still have 115,000 United States troops in Iraq as a symbol of the United States commitment here, and we want to see this thing come out well," he said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Dubai markets fall on debt worries

Dubai markets fall on debt worries

Nakheel has recorded a $3.65bn loss for the first half of 2009, figures show [AFP] Share prices on Dubai's stock market have fallen to their lowest level in almost a year, a day after the country’s investment arm lost a New York luxury hotel in a foreclosure auction. The Dubai Financial Market closed down 6.39 per cent in early trading on Wednesday, while the securities exchange in neighbouring Abu Dhabi fell 2.82 per cent. Istithmar World, Dubai’s investment company, said on Wednesday that the restructuring of Dubai World, its parent company, was not connected to its loss of the W Hotel in Manhattan in an auction on Tuesday. "We are disappointed that the lender has chosen this route as we felt that real progress was being made in negotiations with the various lenders to restructure the debt of W Union Square for the future," a spokesman at Istithmar World said. "This is totally unconnected to the restructuring of the debt of Istithmar parent Dubai World. Istithmar World is not included in that process." Nakheel losses The investment company lost the hotel for $2m, after buying the property for $282m in 2006, the Wall Street Journal reported. Dubai World, a state-owned holding company, said on November 30 that Istithmar World was among several of its units that would not be part of its $26bn debt restructuring programme. Global stock markets fell a fortnight ago on news that Dubai World was not able to repay its debts on time. The Dubai and Abu Dhabi bourses also reacted negatively to a document released by Bloomberg on Tuesday which showed that Nakheel, a property developer owned by Dubai World, posted a loss of 13.4 billion dirhams ($3.65 billion), in the first half of the year. The losses come after Nakheel wrote down the value of land and property, the document said. 'Junk' bonds Six other state-owned companies had their bonds rating downgraded to 'junk' status on Tuesday by Moody’s credit agency, meaning that they have far fewer options to pay off their mounting debts. The targeted firms include DP World, the biggest ports operator in the Middle East, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, and Jebel Ali Free Zone, a business developer centre. Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group, Emaar Properties and DIFC Investments were also downgraded. The decision by Moody’s follows a move by Standard & Poor’s to cut the credit ratings of six Dubai government-linked companies - including DP World - to junk status. Standard & Poor’s also lowered its ratings on four Dubai-based banks to junk status because of their large exposures to companies such as Dubai World and Nakheel.

Source: Agencies