UN declaration delayed over climate text

U.S. raises concern over a paragraph on climate in commemorative declaration

U.S. concerns over a paragraph on climate in a UN commemorative declaration have further delayed the statement’s release after tough negotiations successfully resolved previous issues around the text. The declaration, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the UN Charter on June 26, had already been delayed until 6 p.m. on Friday as countries — successfully — worked out a compromise around language that some, including India, had objected as being too aligned with Chinese government thought.

The U.S. broke silence (a process under which a statement passes if no member state officially objects within a stipulated period of time) on the document on Friday over concerns about the climate-related paragraph, a European diplomat in New York told The Hindu .

Lines on climate in the declaration include: “We need to adapt to the circumstances and take transformative measures. We have a historic opportunity to build back better and greener. We need to immediately curb greenhouse gas emissions and achieve sustainable consumption and production patterns in line with the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. This cannot wait.”

The U.S took issue with reference to the Paris Agreement, a second diplomatic source told

The Hindu . The Trump administration gave notice in November last year that it was exiting the 2015 Paris Agreement — and both the Paris Agreement and the UN are politicised issues in the U.S.

A U.S. diplomat at the UN told The Hindu on Sunday that they could not share updates and that, “ongoing diplomatic negotiations are confidential,” implying that negotiations are still in process.

Letter on behalf of India

The Hindu had first reported that the U.K. had written a letter on behalf of India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. objecting to language that was considered too aligned with Chinese government’s ideology. This issue was resolved by General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande agreeing to replace the phrase, “shared vision of a common future” — associated with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China (CPC) as their vision of the world — with, “the common future of present and coming generations”. Diplomats from Sweden and Qatar — countries that are co-chairing the consultations on the declaration — have put a lot of effort into the process so far and are likely to come up with a solution, such as separating out the U.S. on the climate point, the European diplomatic source told The Hindu .

“The longer this goes on, the more likely someone may come in with other language that is more problematic for everyone… like on human rights or whatever,” the source said.

There are various solutions to exclude a Member State from a specific point, including a clarificatory reference while presenting the text saying that the statement does not present new legal obligations beyond what is already agreed by states, or a similar reference by the concerned State itself.