Some poor nations slam Copenhagen climate accord

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-19 11:18

COPENHAGEN: Several developing nations lined up on Saturday to reject a deal worked out by US President Barack Obama and major emerging economies to help fight global warming at the end of a UN summit.

"I regret to inform you that Tuvalu cannot accept this document," said Ian Fry, delegate for the low-lying Pacific island state that fears it could be wiped off the map by rising sea levels.

Delegates of Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba also angrily denounced the "Copenhagen Accord", saying it would not help address global warming.

Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas rejects climate documents

CARACAS: The countries of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA) Friday rejected the climate change document the UN Climate Change Conference is discussing in Copenhagen.

The rejection, led by Venezuela and Bolivia, was announced during a press conference broadcast live by Venezuelan TV.

During the joint press conference, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the document was "tricks" supported by the United States.

The ALBA representatives, also including Bolivian President Evo Morales, Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo and Ecuadorian National Patrimony Minister Maria Fernanda Espinoza, criticized the Capitalist model dominating the world's economy which put human life at risk.

"It is about the hegemonic model, and that is why the United States made a tricky proposal, offering money as if that was the problem," Chavez added.

According to Chavez, 40 percent of the vehicles in the world are in the United States, which has five percent of the world's population consuming 25 percent of energy on the planet.

"Obama said he did not come here to talk but to take action. But, first he should fulfill the Kyoto Protocol and use the money for saving lives instead of killing. Then we will believe him," said Bolivian President Evo Morales. "What we are discussing here is if we are going to live or die," he added.

"We know how to do things, but we ask them to stop harming us," said Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo.

Lazo added that US citizens should not rest content with Obama's performance at the conference -- "on the contrary, they should be worried."

Meanwhile, Ecuador's National Patrimony Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said that the ALBA countries were protesting against practices violating the UN Charter.

She added that the procedure, form and content of the climate document were questioned by the ALBA, which refuses to sign the final document.