Collapse? Wealthiest Nations Accused of Sabotaging UN Climate Talks

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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/11/20-1



Young environmentalists from international organizations protest in front of the Polish Ministry of Economy in Warsaw, where the COP 19 climate summit is taking place, Nov. 18, 2013. Canada has placed last among wealthy countries in an OECD ranking for environmental protection.

Collapse? Wealthiest Nations Accused of Sabotaging UN Climate Talks
- Jon Queally, staff writer
Published on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 by Common Dreams

One hundred and thirty two of the world's poorest and less-developed nations, including the G77 nations and China, walked out of the UN climate talks in Warsaw on Wednesday, accusing the wealthiest nations, such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the EU states of sabotaging what little hope for progress there remained at this year's international summit.

Harjeet Singh, a spokesman for ActionAid Internatonal, called the continued willingness of the wealthiest (and most polluting) nations to sacrifice the low-lying islands nations and poor countries that are the least responsible for but most vulnerable to climate change an insult to the spirit of the UN talks.

"The US, EU, Australia and Norway remain blind to the climate reality that's hitting us all, and poor people and countries much harder," Singh said. "They continue to derail negotiations in Warsaw that can create a new system to deal with new types of loss and damage such as sea-level rise, loss of territory, biodiversity and other non-economic losses more systematically."

As Sophie Yeo writes for the RTCC Blog, Australia was the target of specific ire for what was interpreted as disrespectful and unserious behavior during the latest conversations at the summit which focused on the development and mechanisms for an international climate relief fund.