Accra — Representatives of five local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the climate change sector of the economy, and an international movement, were shocked to the marrow when they turned up at the consulate section of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Accra last Wednesday morning, to present a petition to the Ambassador.

The representatives of the NGOs had converged at the frontage of the embassy, to present a petition to the Ambassador for onward passage to the government of Saudi Arabia, to soften its stance on climate change issues.

The leadership of the NGOs had had a series of correspondences with the Saudi Ambassador, and discussed with him the importance of the visit to the embassy by the NGOs.

By 11:00 a.m. that morning, the team, made up of about 50 people drawn from the Abibimman Foundation, Green-Life Clubs, Ghana National Youth Coalition on Climate Change (GNYCCC), African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYCC), Global Call to Action Against Poverty (G-CAP) and www.tcktcktck.org, had arrived at the main entrance of the embassy.

However, neither the Ambassador nor any of his officials turned up at the entrance of the premises to receive the petition, instead the Ghanaian security personnel on duty informed the leader of the team, Kwabena Okai Ofosuhene, that none of the Saudi personnel working at the embassy was present to receive their petition.

Mr. Ofosuhene however, went ahead and read the petition to members of the press. According to him, environmental experts had hinted that if nothing drastic was done to change the way we live, and how our economy is structured within the coming five to 10 years, it would be difficult to avoid catastrophic climate change impacts that could wipe out most lives on earth.

He revealed that Saudi Arabia, which is one of the leading countries in the climate negotiations, with a well-experienced and skilled delegation that can influence the negotiations tremendously, was rather concerned about protecting the oil trade, instead of protecting the planet from climate change.

"Throughout the negotiation process, Saudi Arabia has been identified as an obstructionist, and as a country constantly trying to prevent the planet from reaching an ambitious agreement.

a"We are calling on Saudi Arabia to support us in forging a stronger force for ambitious agreement, and use its skilled delegations to support the G77 + China to protect the interests and needs of the poorest and most vulnerable countries, and not seem towards working against them," he noted.