[sustran] Ecuadorian environmentalist Yolanda Kakabadse: "Create a Protocol Based on Non-Emissions"

Todd Edelman edelman at greenidea.eu
Fri Dec 10 20:02:15 JST 2010


Q&A
"Create a Protocol Based on Non-Emissions"

Emilio Godoy interviews YOLANDA KAKABADSE, president of WWF * - 
IPS/TerraViva

http://ipsnews.net/newsTVE.asp?idnews=53824

CANCÚN, Mexico, Dec 9 (IPS) - Latin America should create regional 
conventions to protect biodiversity and combat the impacts of climate 
change, according to Ecuadorian environmentalist Yolanda Kakabadse, 
president of the World Wild Fund for Nature International (WWF).
Climate agreements should be centred on eliminating polluting emissions, 
and not just reducing them or mitigating their effects, said Kakabadse, 
an activist who served as environment minister in Ecuador from 1998 to 
2000.

She sat down with TerraViva in the southeastern Mexican city of Cancún, 
where she is attending the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United 
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP16), which wraps up 
on Friday.

Q: What needs to change in the COP meetings?

A: I think a different dynamic is needed. In terms of their content, the 
lack of stronger links between the conventions on climate change and 
biodiversity is very damaging.

The two issues should be considered together, because ultimately climate 
change is due to poor ecosystem management.

I also think that the traditional way of grouping countries together 
does not make much sense any more. For instance, people talk about Latin 
America, but there is no strong foundation for the belief that its 
governments all have the same agenda. The United Nations should support 
all these initiatives.

Q: What can the region expect to get out of this summit, in areas like 
finance and technology transfer?

A: The question is, what is it getting, and what can it get. It should 
get more. This continent is the richest in natural resources, and that 
makes it a particularly attractive region of the planet for a number of 
actions, like devising a model of natural resource protection, and for 
creating new dynamics for dealing with climate change, biodiversity 
management, water, forests, and the concept of environmental services.

This natural capital has not been politically exploited, especially in 
the case of South America, at these global debates. I think it will gain 
no more and no less than other regions. We have not developed a South 
American agenda very successfully.

Q: Is it feasible to design a climate agenda by country blocs?

A: Yes, absolutely. Among all the issues within the conventions, some 
have real implications for the region, while others are completely 
irrelevant to it.

We should create regional agreements that are based on the same 
framework, but that take into account relevant matters, because we waste 
an enormous amount of time trying to respond to each and every challenge 
in the treaties.

We should concentrate on issues concerned with forests, water, the 
problems of adapting to climate change, and shared management of 
ecosystems and fisheries. If we do not do this, we will not be able to 
contribute key ideas to the convention.

We face a very serious problem in that our South American countries do 
not receive sufficient funding.

Q: Should some countries, like Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, adopt 
compulsory emissions reduction targets?

A: Every country should have goals for the rational use of resources, 
and implement social inclusion policies. As of now, the approval process 
for every new installation should take development ethics into account, 
because this is not only about money but about responsibility towards 
our own populations.

It is not a matter of the countries of the South providing climate 
benefits for those of the North: we will all sink or swim together. 
Every country has a social obligation to set emission reduction targets.

Q: What should the foundation of development ethics be?

A: One of the key issues is rational use of natural resources, which 
requires the development of policies for conservation, respect for our 
ecosystems -- not just as the source of life, but also for their 
contribution to economic opportunities -- social welfare and alternative 
job creation.

This perspective is absent in our countries. We simply exploit resources 
without caring about what will happen in the next 10 years.

Q: How can opposition to the idea of putting a price on ecosystems be 
overcome?

A: There is a tendency to confuse value and price. When we really 
appreciate the true value of natural resources, we can take policy 
decisions, and when we have designed strategies to protect those 
ecosystems, we will be able to think about an efficient pricing system.

I also see the debate about pricing as a fallacy, because it arises from 
an anti-market ideology. In my country we market bananas, oil and 
shrimp. Why should we be reluctant to put a price on a service that 
guarantees our livelihood?

Q: Ecuador has established the Yasuni Initiative, which seeks to raise 
international funds in exchange for refraining from extracting oil from 
the Yasuni biosphere reserve. Could this approach be replicated in 
oil-producing countries like Mexico?

A: The initiative is based on the argument that oil should be left 
underground in places where the value of the flora and fauna is higher. 
There is a cost involved in leaving fossil fuels underground, and it 
should be paid for. This requires that the convention recognise the 
value of non- emissions.

The price of avoiding emissions is the profit that would be made by 
extracting the oil, and if a country is willing to forgo this, it should 
be rewarded for these non-emissions. It is entirely valid to create a 
new protocol, based on the concept of non-emissions.

* This story appears in the IPS TerraViva online published for the U.N. 
Conference on Climate Change in Cancún.

(END/2010)

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