“Copenhagen Accord was not an admission of defeat”: Foreign Minister

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem has delivered a keynote address in Dhaka at the Climate Vulnerable Forum organized by the Government of Bangladesh.

The forum was inaugurated by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and attended by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

“Today, conventional wisdom suggests that Copenhagen was a failure,” Naseem said. “I beg to differ. In my opinion, the Copenhagen Accord was not an admission of defeat, but the first step on the road towards a solution – a solution based on the vision laid down in the Male’ Declaration. That vision was simple: that global warming will only be halted when States realize the futility of arguing over whom should cut emissions, and begin competing to become the leaders of the new industrial revolution – a revolution based not on the finite power of coal and oil, but on the infinite power of the sun, sea and wind.”

Minister highlighted that it was the hope of President Nasheed that this year’s meeting will achieve on to remind the world of the plight of the most climate vulnerable countries and in so doing confront the  growing sense of apathy and re-energise the international community to  act.

Naseem also called for “a strong progressive message [at] COP 17 in Durban, encouraging the UNFCCC to establish a new legal framework on climate change which encourages and helps states take positive action, in other words to invest in low carbon technology, rather than only demanding that they accept negative obligations – namely to cut emissions.”

In his statement Minister also stressed on the challenges and difficulties faced by developing countries in shifting to a low carbon development pathway, and to give guidance to the international community regarding how it can best held and support that shift.

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