Minister of water: Climate change is a development challenge [Archives:2007/1114/Local News]
SANA'A, Dec. 19 ) In order for Yemen to take a pro-active approach to participate as a reliable partner in the CDM; the Ministry of Water and Environment and the Environment Protection Authority have been intensively working over the last 12 months to prepare the relevant legal and institutional framework. This process resulted in several tangible outputs.
In January 2007 the Cabinet approved the Prime Minister's Resolution No. (238) regarding the establishment of a Designated National Authority (DNA) for approval of projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. A Ministerial Decree outlining the country specific CDM approval procedure was endorsed.
Last Wednesday, 144 ministers and high-level government representatives along with 6 heads of state gathered in Bali to begin the high-level segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference – Bali 2007, which is expected to launch negotiations on a new global deal on climate change.
Speaking at the high-level segment, Yemeni Minister of Water and Environment, Mr. Abdul-Rahman F. al-Eryani, says: “Climate change is not solely an environmental issue, but rather part of the larger challenge of sustainable development. It is one of the most serious threats to poverty eradication. Developing countries, and the poorest people who live in them, are the most vulnerable to climate change. These countries are least equipped to respond to and therefore most vulnerable to its raising risk. In our region freshwater availability is projected to decrease, coastal areas will be at greater danger due to increased flooding, and climate change is projected to compound pressures on natural resources and public health. In such a setting our tasks become even more complex given the inextricable link between sustainable development and climate change. We are living with the consequences of actions and decisions of the last generations, and future generations will live with the consequences of ours. Addressing climate change is the moral challenge of our generation. I believe that there is an urgent need for a global and comprehensive post-2012 agreement. Negotiations on such an agreement need to be launched now and completed by 2009.”
“The Kyoto Protocol addresses mitigation of the six gases believed to be the main contributors to the climate change effect, which is associated with an increase in the global temperature and disturbed climatic patterns. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), permits industrialized countries, which have emission targets under the Kyoto Protocol, to invest in sustainable development projects in developing countries that reduce greenhouse gas emission, and thereby generate tradable emission credits, says Lia Sieghart, CIM-Expert within the Ministry of Water and Environment.
“I am happy to say that significant decisions were reached in Bali on the last day such as a clear agenda for the key issues to be negotiated up to 2009. These are: action for adapting to the negative consequences of climate change, such as droughts and floods; ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; ways to widely deploy climate-friendly technologies and financing both adaptation and mitigation measures. Concluding negotiations in 2009 will ensure that the new deal can enter into force by 2013, following the expiry of the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol,” concluded the Minister.
The conference, the thirteenth Conference of the 192 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the third meeting of the 176 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, is being attended by more than 11,000 people, making it the largest UN climate change meeting ever held.
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