“There will not be a major deal at Copenhagen summit”

With stalemate over emission cut threatening any consensus at Copenhagen climate summit in December, a leading environment expert today said the rift between the developed and the developing world on the issue is way too wide for a major breakthrough.

“The gap between developed and developing countries on climate change is too wide. So, I feel that there won’t be a major agreement,” Mohan Munasinghe, vice-chairman of the Noble peace prize winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told PTI .

The major issues that remain the bone of contention for any breakthrough on climate change pact include disparities between the two worlds when it comes to global warming and greenhouse gas emissions.

The climatologist said the developing countries (G-77+China) have been asking the industrial nations to cut emissions by 40 per cent till 2020 whereas they (developed nations) are ready to cut emissions by 15-20 per cent and hence the differences remain.

The UN framework Convention on Climate Change also views reductions in emissions to be largely the responsibility of the industrialised countries.

“I think, without major sacrifice by any party, no major agreement is likely. Recession will also put hindrance in reaching to any conclusion,” Mr. Munasinghe, an envoy of Green Cross International, an international body on environment, said.

The impact of climate change will adversely affect the developing world in days to come and with their scant resources they will not be able to deal with the consequences of food shortages, heatwaves, floods and disease, he said.

The climate expert pointed out that funding for developing countries might not happen with rich nations citing recession.

According to him, the Kyoto Protocol, which came into force in 2005, was a “weak agreement“.

“It was a failed agreement because we have not been able to meet the target set by the protocol,” Mr. Munasinghe said.

As the Kyoto Protocol comes to an end, the countries are meeting at Copenhagen in Denmark to pave way for a new climate treat.