The dispute between rich and poor nations at the Copenhagen summit is widening after a weekend of historic protest. Earlier today, the main negotiation session was temporarily suspended after African delegates led a protest over a dispute on the fate of the Kyoto protocol. The African bloc has accused richer nations of trying to abandon Kyoto by merging it with a separate negotiating track on a new agreement. Last week the chair of the Group of 77 bloc of developing nations, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, said U.S. proposals to cap global temperature increases at two degrees Celsius — 3.6 degrees Farenheit — would condemn Africa to a new holocaust. Referring to the head U.S. climate negotiator, Di-Aping said: “Is Todd Stern saying that destroying Africa…is acceptable to him? Is he telling us that the world will put Africa into a furnace? He is basically condemning Africa to death.” Developing nations want temperature increases capped at a maximum 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is 2.7 degrees Farenheit.
African Delegates Protest Over Kyoto Dispute
HeadlineDec 14, 2009