Pronk plaatst zandzak van Milieudefensie op spreekgestoelte Klimaatconferentie

Den Haag/Amsterdam, 20 November 2000 - - - Minister Pronk opende de tweede week van de Klimaatconferentie met het plaatsen van een zandzak op het spreekgestoelte van de grote conferentiezaal in het Congresgebouw. Daarbij verwees hij naar de duizenden mensen die op initiatief van Milieudefensie afgelopen zaterdag een Dijk van zandzakken bouwden bij het Congresgebouw. Hij verklaarde zich gesteund te voelen door deze actie. Teo Wams, directeur van Milieudefensie, sprak vandaag de VN-conferentie toe.

Volgens Wams kan het terugdringen van de CO2-uitstoot geen uitstel dulden. Regeringen moeten geen verstoppertje spelen met het publiek en de media. Het opvoeren van bossen als CO2- sponzen ondermijnt de doelen die zijn afgesproken tijdens de eerste Klimaatconferentie in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. Wams benadrukte dat emissiehandel niet mag ontaarden in windhandel, die geen bijdrage levert aan de oplossing van het klimaatprobleem.

Kernenergie vindt Wams, sprekend namens de gehele milieubeweging, volstrekt onacceptabel. “Kernenergie bedreigt onze toekomst en de veiligheid van onze kinderen.” Wams had geen goed woord over voor landen die de afspraken die in 1997 in Kyoto gemaakt zijn, niet meer volledig willen nakomen.

Tenslotte wees hij erop dat de rijke westerse landen de plicht hebben om de ontwikkelingslanden, die het meest te lijden hebben onder de gevolgen van klimaatverandering, moeten helpen. De geïndustrialiseerde landen zijn verantwoordelijk geweest voor de meeste vervuiling de afgelopen eeuw.

Bijlage: Speech Teo Wams (in het Engels)

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Noot voor de redactie:
Foto’s van Teo Wams die de conferentiegangers toespreekt op het spreekgestoelte met de zandzak zijn verkrijgbaar bij persfotograaf Michiel Wijnbergh, tel. 0343 512233 of 06 2155 5271
Foto’s van minister Pronk op zaterdag 18 november met zandzak tussen de Dijkbouwers zijn verkrijgbaar bij Liesbeth Sluiter, 020 620 1197, buzzer 06 5984 0421, email liesbethsluiter@wxs.nl Meer informatie: Milieudefensie persvoorlichting, tel. 020 5507 333, mobiel: Mieke van Tankeren 06 2959 3873, Eugène van Haaren 06 1555 8055

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Bijlage: Speech Teo Wams

Teo Wams, Director of Milieudefensie, Friends of the Earth Netherlands, Speech to plenary of COP 6, the Hague 20th November 2000

Mr Chairman, Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for the chance to speak today. I am here on behalf of Friends of the Earth International, the world's largest environment network, with groups in more than 68 countries. I am also here for the Climate Action Network, which all of you know well.

More importantly, I am here on behalf of many thousands of citizens outside this Conference. You will all have seen the results of the biggest action ever staged at international climate talks. 6000 people from over 40 countries built our dike, a symbol of what may be the last resort to protect our land if the wrong decisions are taken this week in The Hague.

Why did they come here to build the dike? Why did they travel up to 3 days and sleep on hard floors? Because they feel that everyone has a moral responsibility to save this treaty. Because they want to make politicians realise their citizens care about the future of our planet. Millions of lives are at stake here. That is why thousands came to hold the politicians to account.

People around the world are angry. Angry about the lack of real action against climate change. Angry about the failure to cut emissions. And angry about the failure of rich Northern countries to help developing countries deal with the terrible impacts of climate change. We have seen 10 years of talk. Meanwhile, extreme weather disasters have killed tens of thousands and ruined the lives of millions more. It is only a taste of what is likely to come. And we are still talking.

So you will forgive me if I and the people I have the honour to represent have no sympathy for attempts to delay action to phase out fossil fuels - the only way to really tackle climate change. We have no sympathy for Governments that play hide and seek with the public and the media to make it seem as if they are doing the right thing. They are not.

I have a simple message for those who want to rely on trees and soils to soak up carbon to meet targets, without bringing real changes in the way we use and produce energy. You are undermining the aims of the Climate Change Convention you agreed at the Rio Earth Summit. You are putting short term national political interest over the safety and security of the whole planet. This is immoral and unacceptable.

To those countries who wish to exploit every loophole in avoiding real emission reduction measures at home, let me say this. Hot Air trading and fossil fuel projects in the Clean Development Mechanism and as JI projects will do nothing to slow down climate change. By continuing to fuel global warming, you are putting the lives, jobs and homes of millions of people across the world at risk. This is also immoral and unacceptable.

To those countries who want to introduce nuclear power as the solution to climate change I say that you threaten our future and the safety of our children.

To those countries who argue that the Kyoto agreement should not be fully enforced, I say you are ridiculing this entire process. The climate treaty must be put into practice. There must be binding consequences if it is not. The same countries that are trying to avoid enforcement of this treaty are the first to demand enforcement of world trade rules. This is dangerous hypocrisy.

Finally, to those Northern countries that evade their duty to help developing countries deal with the effects of climate change, I say this. You have been polluting the planet for more than a century. You now have a duty to help those who suffer as a result, and to help developing countries for sustainable economic development.

Mr Chairman, Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope you will be strong enough to make a real deal here at The Hague. A deal that will truly start to reverse man-made climate change. Remember, your citizens are watching you. Success will be rewarded. Failure will not be forgiven.

 
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