Harare — PRESIDENT Mugabe left Harare last night for Copenhagen, Denmark, to attend the landmark 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference that is expected to come up with strategies to curb one of the greatest perils confronting the world, rising atmospheric temperatures.
Climate change is manifest in increased extreme weather conditions such as droughts and cyclones, melting glaciers and rising sea levels that threaten the survival of many island states.
The President, who is accompanied by the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe and several senior Government officials, among them Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi; Secretary for Media, Information and Publicity Mr George Charamba, will join over 110 other heads of state and Government at the historic conference, dubbed COP 15.
He was seen off at the Harare International Airport by Acting President Joice Mujuru, Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa; Transport, Communications and Infrastructure Development Minister Nicholas Goche; Media, Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu; and service chiefs.
The conference brings together 192 nations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, an offshoot of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
Leaders are expected to strike an accord to ratchet up efforts against climate change fed by uncontrolled emissions of greenhouse gases, heat-trapping carbon gases from fossil fuels.
The outline accord from Copenhagen is expected to be fleshed out in negotiations next year and is scheduled to take effect from 2013, when current pledges under the UNFCCC's Kyoto Protocol expire.
The Kyoto Protocol, which is aimed at harnessing global efforts to combat global warming, has been ratified by 184 parties to the UNFCCC since 1997, but has not been ratified by the United States, arguably the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
The Kyoto Protocol bids developed countries to set clear targets for emissions reductions.
The European Union, Canada, Japan and Australia, among other developed members, all set emissions reduction targets.
Developing countries like China and India, however, were not required to present any emissions targets.
Environment ministers and other experts have been seized with thrashing out a draft deal since the conference began on December 7.
A select group of environment ministers from 48 countries met on Sunday to consider a draft deal ahead of the arrival of heads of state and government for the official opening ceremony set for Friday.
Prospects for a deal were, however, dampened yesterday when African delegates walked out of key talks with Nigeria warning that the negotiations were now in danger owing to lack of will from the developed world.
AFP quoted sources at the marathon talks as saying Africa had led a walkout of working groups, with the backing of the Group of 77 developing nations, and refused to continue talks without guarantees for the future of the Kyoto Protocol.
Speaking on behalf of African nations, Algeria demanded a special plenary session devoted to Kyoto. Nigeria's negotiator, Victor Ayodeji Fodeke, told AFP that climate change was already triggering widespread migration in Africa, further increasing the competition for precious resources.
The Millennium Development Goals, he said, would be a mirage, as poverty would be worsened by extreme weather conditions.
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"President Leaves for UN Climate Conference"
It is good to know that the President has finally taken a smaller number of ministers with him as compared to the 59 member delegation that we read of the other day. That was crazy I must be quick to say. I am still concerned about the unity of our GNU leadership attitude towards national healing. Why is that the prime mister and the vice prime mister were not at the airport to see the president off? We only read that he was seen off by his ZANU PF as if he was on party mission and not on national trip? Can some one explain this to me why it is like this please? This type of behavior disturbs the nation because it separates the nation into three party-line segments and consequently sets a fertile ground for parallel governance system. The nation calls o the Principals to address this seriously.
Get it right dude. The number hasn't changed. It's still Robert the Maggot and another 59 Maggot lovers burning lots of carbon all the way to Denmark where they'll burn lots of money that could have gone to fix the water system back home.
The Herald simply didn't print the actual names of most of the others because they have no official purpose in going. It's a shopping trip!
Forget about the daily per diem each one of those sellouts gets from the taxpayer, it's too painful. How much does it cost to commandeer an empty jetliner to fly to Europe and then wait around until the Maggot wishes to fly home? Did you know that just filling the gas tank takes around 50,000 gallons of jet fuel. That's 100,000 gallons for a round trip! Jet fuel is more expensive then petrol. What do you think 100,000 gallons of petrol would cost the country? And what material benefit will this trip bring to the country other then Dis-Grace's new shoes and handbags?