At
UN,
China Opposes Climate Statement by UNSC, India Was “Easy”
With It
By
Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 19 -- In the run up to climate change
day in the
Security Council, the Germany presidency of the Council summoned
Permanent Representatives Tuesday morning for a last try to agree on
a Presidential Statement which would call for periodic reports on
climate and security.
Several
small
island states are supporting Germany, the UK, France and others in
this. Nauru's president Marcus Stephen, for example, had an op-ed in
Tuesday's New York Times
calling for a new UN Special Representative on climate and security.
Papua New Guinea, too, has expressed a need for Council action.
On
the other hand
the Non Aligned Movement at the leadership level has opposed
“encroachment” by the Security Council and its five Permanent
members on the issue. Some questions, who is the underdog here? Nauru
or Egypt, a perennial power on NAM, even after Mubarak's fall?
In
a sense the
debate has a dumb bell structure, with some small island states
joined with some large European powers.
Merkel, Ban Ki-moon and guard, climate PRST not shown
These
proponents
pointed the figure at not only China and Russia, but also South
Africa and India as opposing the Presidential Statement or any
outcome from the meeting.
But
Indian
Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri told Inner City Press on
his way into Tuesday's consultations that while the “PRST looks
difficult, some countries are against it, I am easy with it.”
Moments
later,
Inner City Press learned that inside the closed door consultations,
China said its position has not changed, it is opposed to the
Presidential Statement. And that, one Permanent Representative told
Inner City Press, would appear to be that.
* * *
At
UN
on Climate, Statement in Play Amid Encroachment Fears,
AOSIS to Meet
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 18 -- While Germany has been pushing on climate change
for a Security Council Presidential Statement after the July 20
meeting, numerous Council members expressed doubt to Inner City Press
on Monday
night.
“It's as if
they
think only the Security Council can deal with anything,” one
Council member complained. The Non-Aligned Movement has been lobbying
against Security Council jurisdiction over climate change.
Meanwhile
some
small island states, many in the Pacific, see the seas rising and
want the Council and its powers under Chapter Seven of the UN charter
to be invoked. That is the tension, within the Association of Small
Island States or AOSIS: which ones need the Council's involvement, on
issues like their fishing rights even if their land is overrun, and
those aligned with NAM.
"The Brits in
2007 said it wouldn't be a precedent," one member told Inner City Press
of a UK sponsored Council meeting in that year. "Now they're citing it.
So we say no."
Germany
still
believes a Presidential Statement is possible, saying it has been
calling Moscow and Beijing. But such a Statement require unanimity,
and other capitals must be called. And there it is harder for the
administration of Angela Merkel to exert pressure.
“She was
against
nuclear power and then for it,” a Council member told Inner City
Press. “Now she is against it again. Investors need more constancy
than that. We can put words on paper, but what do they want the
Council to do?”
Here is the
German mission's concept paper, click here.
The
initial
proposal was for a brand new Special Representative of the Secretary
General, to report to the Council every six months. Even an AOSIS
member told Inner City Press, “too expensive.” Now the idea is
Secretary General reports, and language that makes clear the Council
is not encroaching on other bodies.
On
July 19 there is
an AOSIS meeting at 9 am, then Germany has called a meeting of
Permanent Representatives at 10. “If they had a PRST, they wouldn't
need a Perm Rep meeting,” a Council member told Inner City Press. But
hope springs eternal -- and the seas are rising. Watch this site.
* * *
, 
in