26 November 2007
Kampala — Reducing the impact of climate change must involve greater commitment to the search for local solutions to the adversities arising from such phenomena as droughts or floods, argued Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Sunday.
Speaking to Mozambican journalists in Kampala, immediately after the end of the Commonwealth summit, Guebuza said African countries should not simply wait for foreign aid to solve the problems of climate change.
While support from the rich countries was certainly necessary, there were plenty of measures that could be taken locally to cope with floods or drought, he argued.
"We have to do something as a complement", he insisted. Thus the main solution the Mozambican government insisted upon to cope with floods in the Zambezi valley was that people should not live on the flood plain.
"We are working to resettle people on higher land and in improved houses", said Guebuza.
As for drought, he admitted he found it strange that people living in areas subject to cyclical drought (such as much of southern Mozambique) did not adopt simple methods of water retention, such as systems to catch the rain water that fell on their roofs.
But rain water cisterns did exist in parts of the country, and Guebuza cited the example of the island of Ibo, off the coast of the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
"You don't solve this problem with foreign aid. It depends entirely on our own attitude", the President insisted. The people of Ibo had the "pro-active attitude" that all Mozambicans should adopt.
Climate change was one of the main concerns of the summit, and the heads of state and government adopted the "Lake Victoria Climate Change Action Plan" which noted that global warming directly threatened the very existence of some Commonwealth countries, notably small island states that could be overwhelmed by any significant rise in sea levels.
Climate change, the summit said, "can undermine our continuing efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals".
Furthermore, the longer countries waited to take mitigating action, the more expensive that action would be.
The summit wanted "additional incentives for developing countries for commitments to enhanced mitigation action", and insisted that fighting climate change must not mean depriving countries of the chance of sustainable economic development.
"We believe that development itself is an important tool in addressing climate change", stressed the Plan, "since a well- educated and healthy society, with a diverse economy, is best placed to be flexible and to generate the necessary resources to invest in cleaner technologies and systems, and to fund adaptation measures".
The plan talks of "improved land use management, including conservation and sustainable use of forest resources", studies on the sustainability of the exports of fresh produce (a reference to the carbon costs of flying cut flowers and fresh fruit half way round the globe), and support for natural disaster management in member countries.
What is entirely missing is any target for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Such issues are being postponed until the United Nations climate change conference in Bali. The summit declared "Our shared goal should be to achieve a comprehensive post-2012 (i.e. after the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol) global agreement that strengthens, broadens and deepens current arrangements and leads to reduced emissions of global greenhouse gases".
The Kyoto Protocol itself is never mentioned in the Plan - doubtless because one major Commonwealth player, Australia, lined up slavishly behind US President George Bush in rejecting the Protocol. That has now changed with the humiliating weekend defeat at the polls for Australia's right-wing Prime Minister John Howard. A much more positive and urgent position on climate change is expected from the victorious Australian Labour Party and its leader Kevin Rudd.
The summit also looked at the possibility of admitting new members. "There are norms which were analysed on how to allow, exceptionally, on a case by case basis, the admission of new members", said Guebuza.
Rwanda has been knocking on the Commonwealth's door since 2003, and its President, Paul Kagame, was a special guest to the Kampala summit. But no decision was taking on admitting Rwanda.
The cautious wording in the final communique was that "an applicant country should, as a general rule, have had an historic constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth member, save in exceptional circumstances".
Any applicant would be expected to demonstrate commitment to democracy, the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, freedom of expression, and the protection of human rights.
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