In his closing key note speech at Chatham House, Malik Amin Aslam Khan, Pakistan’s environment minister, argued that ‘we are fast running out of time for remedial action’ on the ‘indisputable’ threat from climate change.
While the science becomes clearer, the economic warnings unmistakable, the physical reality unambiguous and world opinion strongly in support, the politics on the issue, unfortunately, lags indecisively behind.
All the above influences seem to be strong drivers for shifting political paradigm but they are still not enough to untangle the complex web of global politics caught up in the UN system in unending discussions on the post-Kyoto climate regime.
He welcomed recent agreement of a 2009 deadline for reaching an agreement and the IPCC signal of the need for a $100/ton price of carbon.
But, he wondered, will a future agreement provide developing countries with a fair deal.
“The time may be right to give serious political thought to the principle of ‘equal per capita entitlements’,” he argued. “The basic ethical foundations belying this approach – every human being should be entitled to equal emission rights – has a very strong defining power which is likely to shape long term global principles.”
