Nature & Environment

Major Green Groups Stage a Walkout from UN Warsaw Climate Talks

Nupur Jha
First Posted: Nov 22, 2013 10:27 AM EST

Major NGOs and green groups like Greenpeace and WWF walked out of the U.N. climate talks taking place in Warsaw, Poland, protesting against the reluctance of developed nations to arrive at a consensus to curb harmful gas emissions.

Above 9,000 representatives had assembled in Warsaw for this conference,. The members attending the talks were there for chalking out crucial points for forming a treaty on climate to be signed in 2015 and enforced after 2020 Reuters reported.

The talks had repeatedly asked rich nations to fund the developing countries affected by natural calamities and climate changes and help them develop in an eco-friendly way.

"The Polish government has done its best to turn these talks into a showcase for the coal industry," said Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, said in a statement.

"Along with backsliding by Japan, Australia and Canada, and the lack of meaningful leadership from other countries, governments here have delivered a slap in the face to those suffering as a result of dangerous climate change. The EU is being shackled by the Polish government and its friends in the coal industry, and must resume leading on the climate agenda if Paris is going to deliver a treaty that matters."

Economies such as China and Brazil appeared to be opposing the European push for enforcing  new commitments for a new climate agreement, to be implemented by  economies a year later, South China Morning Post reported.

"China, if anyone, can be a game changer, but it's not yet capitalising on its potential.  It has yet to translate its domestic gains on cutting coal use and other climate action into constructive engagement in these talks. 2014 is a critical year - it must be a year of action and ambition on the road to Paris. Each and every country must table new pollution reduction targets, as well as meeting the promises they have already made," Naidoo stated.

The environmentalists want the developed nations to lower the pollutions and emission levels and accept their bit of responsibility to combat global warming.

Marcin Korolec, the Polish environment minister, was chairing the talks and he got fired from his post on Wednesday.

"We believe in this process. We will never give up on it, because people around the world desperately need a global treaty on climate change. But a new treaty must also be meaningful. Warsaw has simply not been good enough. As civil society, we will be back next year with still more voices behind us, with more determination and with more ambition to succeed. We expect governments to do the same," Korolec added.

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