Beirut launches its Call to Copenhagen

Beirut – 1 December 2009: Today, The parliamentary committee of General works and transport and energy and water and the UN development program in the Lebanese Parliament held a meeting on climate change and to discuss the policies raised in Copenhagen summit. The meeting was attended by representatives from the parliament, NGOs, bodies from the public and private sectors and representatives of international organizations.
After study and discussion the attendees released the statement of “Beirut call to Copenhagen Summit” to support the Lebanese diplomatic position in the most critical talks in the history of humankind on climate change which will be launched next week. The statement included points that stressed the importance of this crucial negotiations and demanded world leaders and representatives to endorse an ambitious and binding and fair treaty in Copenhagen that include several issues:
• Keeping the rise in global temperature below two degrees, then readjusting the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere below 350 parts per million.
• Decreasing global emissions of greenhouse gases in the way that they reach their peak in the year 2015 at most, then decreasing back in the year 2020 in comparison with 1990 emissions level.
• Decreasing carbon dioxide emissions by 80 % by the year 2050 in proportion to 1990 emissions level.
• Developed countries as a group must decrease their emission more than 40 % by the year 2020 and more than 95 % by the year 2050 in proportion to 1990 emissions level.
• Demanding developing countries as a group to get out of the main prospect of emissions growth to more than 30 % by the year 2020, and to decrease these emissions to more than 65 % by the year 2050 in proportion to 1990 emissions level.
• Demanding developed nations to provide a yearly funding not less than 200 billion US dollars of its National Budget to help developing countries to move to a low carbon economy by the year 2020.
• Stop all the unavailing financial support to coal and oil and refrain from supporting unsustainable technologies like nuclear energy and the energy from burning waste.

“Within the time that the Lebanese delegate is preparing to go to Copenhagen, this document is issued as an initial support for the negotiations team in a crucial and effective time”, said Wael Hmaidan, The Head of Climate Campaign in The Global League of Activists IndyACT. Hmaidan added: “this position is the strongest Arab position so far, it’s courageous but necessary”.

Parliament member Mohamed Kabbani added: “We hope that the Lebanese Government adopt this call as Lebanon’s official position, because we have a lot to lose and we’re not ready to compromise on Lebanon’s future anymore. This document is a confirmation from our side that we are committed to a firm position toward climate change and we urge the Lebanese government to adopt the call as Lebanon’s position in the negotiations”.

“United Nations considers that climate change is the most dangerous threat to life on earth, and we have less than ten years to avoid its catastrophic impacts. That’s why, Copenhagen is our date with destiny; or we establish a strong treaty that saves us from this disaster or we sign a suicide pact”, said the Director of UN development program in Lebanon D.Seyf El-Din Abaro.

More than 60 head of state and government, including those in the United States, United kingdom, Germany and France have pledged to attend this historical meeting. For most governments around the world during this year, climate change was a top priority. Lebanon wasn’t one of them.
IndyACT is participating in Copenhagen negotiations with a delegate of more than 43 individuals including experts on climate change, activists, journalists and celebrities to push the Arab and world governments to reach an ambitious, fair and binding treaty.
- The End –
For more information, please contact:
Photos of this event will be available on: http://indyact.org/
- Wael Hmaidan, The Executive Director of IndyACT, Phone / Fax: +961-1-447192 , Mobile: +961-3-506313, Email: whmaidan@indyact.org