Page 2 - Aruba Today
P. 2
A2
UP FRONTFriday 4 December 2015
Kerry says peace in reach as hopes Developing nations seen shifting
for Cyprus deal rise emissions stance in climate talks
BRADLEY KLAPPER country after a Greece- last week, the U.N. envoy SETH BORENSTEIN
Associated Press backed coup. Tens of to Cyprus, Espen Barthe KARL RITTER
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — thousands fled in each di- Eide, said leaders were Associated Press
Cyprus has long had the rection, and the island has confident they could re- LE BOURGET, France (AP) — The once black-and-
reputation of a peace me- been divided into Greek solve all outstanding issues. white world of climate negotiations for poorer coun-
diator’s graveyard. and Turkish parts ever Kerry, who comes with a tries has evolved into many shades of gray at talks
But as U.S. Secretary of since. In the past four de- mixed mediation record, is this week in Paris.
State John Kerry visited cades, would-be peace- trying to nudge the process For years, many in the developing world said richer
the divided island Thurs- makers from the U.S., Unit- along. His previous suc- countries created the global warming problem with
day, there may be reason ed Nations and European cesses include a resolution their industrial emissions so it is up to them to clean it
for optimism. The coun- Union all have attempted to last year’s election cri- up — a sticking point in past climate negotiations.
try’s Greek Cypriot presi- to end the ethnic schism. sis in Afghanistan, though But there’s no way that global warming can be kept
dent and the leader of the All have failed. he notably failed when his below the international goal of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6
degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times with-
From left, Turkish Cypriot Leader Mustafa Akinci, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Cyprus out dramatic limits in future carbon dioxide emissions
President Nicos Anastasiades shake hands before a dinner at the UNFICYP Residence, in Nico- from the developing nations, climate experts and
sia, Cyprus, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015. Kerry is in Cyprus for one-day official visit. even officials from developing nations say. The Earth
has already warmed up about 1 degree Celsius since
(Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP) then.
“Everybody has to participate in cleaning up the
breakaway Turkish Cypriots The plan is to create a fed- nine-month peace pro- mess,” said Richard Somerville, a Scripps Institution of
have met 16 times since eration of two zones with cess between Israel and Oceanography climate scientist. “If you are going to
May. Both are committed parallel systems, and An- the Palestinians collapsed take it seriously, everybody has to play a part.”
to a deal, as are Greece astasiades and Akinci are in April 2014. Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sosene Sopoaga said
and Turkey. And newly dis- supposed to meet three Here, however, the U.S. is even though developing nations like his — which is
covered gas deposits in more times in December. not carrying the diplomat- being threatened with being wiped out by a rise in
the Mediterranean could Their teams are negotiat- ic load; the United Nations sea levels — didn’t cause the global warming prob-
mean a windfall for both if ing every day. Last month, is brokering discussions. lem, they still have to limit future fossil fuel use be-
the two sides reunify. Akinci said an accord was For the U.S., strategic ob- cause the problem has gotten so serious. But poorer
“It’s become clear that possible by mid-2016. jectives are at stake. nations need financial aid to help pay for renewable
the ground is really shift- Areas under the recog- Peace could help stabi- energy over often-cheaper fossil fuels.
ing,” Kerry, who is playing nized government’s con- lize the eastern Mediter- “Yes they are ready, because they recognize it is a
only a supporting role in trol already are in the EU. A ranean, a region that in- global issue,” Sopoaga said Thursday. “Let’s do it to-
the negotiations, said after deal would bring the Turk- cludes unstable Lebanon, gether.”
meeting President Nicos ish side into the bloc. Syria and Egypt and the China’s climate change special envoy, Xie Zhenhua,
Anastasiades and Turkish Among the thorniest issues persistent Israeli-Palestinian said even though it will be difficult, China is commit-
Cypriot leader Mustafa Ak- remaining include the di- conflict. After attending a ted to changing its energy system, peaking its emis-
inci separately. vision of powers between basketball game between sions by 2030, if not earlier. China is by far the world’s
“Tangible progress is being the federal government teams of teenagers from No. 1 carbon emissions polluter.
made,” Kerry said. “And I and the two states, what to each part of Cyprus, Kerry “This is not something imposed on us,” Xie said Thurs-
am more convinced than do about private property lauded Anastasiades and day at the Chinese pavilion at the Paris climate talks.
ever that a resolution to lost by individuals on each Akinci for “working really “This something we Chinese want to do ourselves.
the longstanding division side and how to share hard for peace and mak- And we will do it well.”
of Cyprus is within reach.” the country’s economic ing the tough and creative At a Thursday news conference, some least-devel-
“We believe this is Cyprus’ wealth — including its off- compromises that this mo- oped nations continued to make the case for an
moment,” he told report- shore oil and gas resourc- ment demands. They ab- agreement that reflects that poor countries can’t do
ers in the divided capital of es. The sides appear to be solutely deserve our sup- as much as rich ones.
Nicosia. Cyprus split in 1974 nearing agreements on port and the support of all Pa Ousman Jarju, minister of environment and cli-
when Turkey invaded the each. Reporting progress Cypriots.”q mate change of Gambia, called the issue “the el-
ephant in the room.”
“We are different. We have different capabilities,”
Jarju said. “We need to ensure that we have an
agreement that would reflect those realities.”
Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko of South Africa, who heads
the bloc of developing countries in the climate talks,
said the group was united and insisted that that’s a
good thing for everyone.
“If you have a fragmented group it makes the man-
agement of the negotiations that much harder,” she
said.
Janos Pasztor, the United Nations assistant secretary
general for climate change, said if there is “one set of
rules of the road” for nations regardless of rich or poor
in the agreement, it will also have flexibility “so that
the developing countries will also be able to deliver.”
“Developing nations understand that they also have
an increasing responsibility while recognizing clearly
that the developed countries have to still take the
lead,” Pasztor said in an interview with The Associ-
ated Press. “You see that in their national plans.”q
