Bolivia planning new climate change conference

By Ryan Dicovitsky

19 January 2010 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: At a press conference on January 21st at the United Nations, Bolivian Ambassador Pablo Solon-Romero spoke on preparations for a climate change conference being held in his country in April. Despite indications that the summit would include a heavy focus on the responsibility of rich countries to combat climate change, he stressed that the meeting would revolve around building and reaching an international consensus to stop climate change.

Solon-Romero, who is the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Bolivia to the UN, told reporters that the “Peoples’ World Conference on Climate Change and Mother Earth’s Rights” is tentatively scheduled to take place from April 19th to the 22nd in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Solon-Romero told MediaGlobal “what we intend to do with the conference in April is to have a space where we can build a consensus from the bottom to the top — from the people, from those that are on the ground, and of course with the participation of governments and international organizations.”

Bolivian President Evo Morales is planning a new climate change summit to try to save the planet. Source: UN Photo/Ryan Brown.

The impetus for the conference, the brainchild of Bolivian President Evo Morales, is the perceived failure of international leaders to agree on a binding solution to stop the emission of industrial greenhouse gas emissions, scientifically shown to correlate with a global rise in temperatures. The UN-sponsored Copenhagen climate change summit in December was anticipated to be a watershed moment in climate change negotiations and produce a legally binding treaty to restrict emissions. Instead, a non-binding document was produced, sparking cries that the world’s developing countries would continue to suffer disproportionately from the adverse effects of climate change, such as drought and flooding, caused by the emissions of greenhouse gases primarily from developed countries.

“For us it’s not a problem of blame — it’s a problem of responsibility. If my government, or if I as a person, do something that affects others, I should be responsible for what I have done, and I should try to see how I am going to compensate and help those that I have damaged, to solve the problems that I have caused,” said Solon-Romero.

“The reality is that 75 percent of the green[house] gas emissions in the atmosphere have come from developed countries during the last 250 years. That is a scientific reality. So if you ask me ‘is Bolivia responsible for the green[house] gas emissions in the atmosphere?’ No,” he concluded.

The topics expected to be discussed at the conference in Bolivia range from the traditional to the novel. Scientific research on climate change and possible solutions will be discussed, including ways to incorporate broader participation for the world’s population in a final deal. The conference will take a slightly different turn in later negotiations; among the new topics expected to be discussed will be a declaration of “Mother Earth Rights,” proposals to establish an international court for those responsible for industrial emissions, and a prayer ceremony in a football stadium for “Life and Mother Earth.”

The idea of a court raises a multitude of issues. Modern industrialization in developing countries is helping lift individuals up economically, and those countries have noted that they would need tremendous assistance to stop emitting greenhouse gasses. If they were to continue emitting gasses, there exists an ethical dilemma of whether or not they would be criminally responsible, despite the economic improvements for their people.

Solon-Romero acknowledged this problem, stating “we recognize that any country that wants to develop is in some way going to emit green[house] gas emissions. But the problem is that actually our space of atmosphere is already being occupied by the developed countries through their historical emissions.”

Finding a middle ground between rich and poor countries has proved difficult enough in current negotiations, so extending the discussion into yet another forum seems rather counterintuitive. However, Bolivia claims that its conference will in no way attempt to derail the current negotiations leading up to a summit in Mexico City at the end of this year.

As developing and vulnerable countries stressed the need for assistance to adapt to climate change and cut emissions, financial matters took center stage in Copenhagen and are still a high priority. Solon-Romero pointed out that while important, money won’t be the core focus in Cochabamba. He said, “A good deal is a deal that recognizes that we should also take into account how we are going to reestablish harmony with our Mother Earth. We say it’s not only a problem of money. It’s a problem of restoring the balance with our environment if we want to have a sustainable life.” Ryan Dicovitsky