A new report published on Thursday by World Growth, a non-governmental organization, shows that the European Union strategy of making early, deep cuts in emissions the centerpiece of a post Kyoto Protocol global framework would harm developing countries and derail efforts to alleviate global poverty in the developing world.
The report entitled "The Real Climate Threat to Developing Countries -- Early, Deep Cuts in emission," finds the European position disregards the well-established mainstream view of the world's leading development economists.
The report was published during an ongoing two-week U.N. climate change conference in Bali, a resort island of Indonesia.
"Emissions should be reduced by a succession of small reductions of emissions over a very long period," said a press release of the organization.
This would enable poor countries to continue to pursue high growth economic strategies to reduce poverty. When developing countries become wealthier, they can afford the costs of mitigation and adaptation, it said.
"There has never been a case of a country reducing energy consumption whilst at the same time improving living standards," said Ambassador Alan Oxley, chairman of World Growth and former chairman of the GATT, predecessor to the WTO.
The World Growth report assessed the cost of British official Sir Nocholas Stern's claim that deep cuts would only shave one percent of annual economic growth in the world economy over time. It found Stern's one percent cut in global GDP equated to a GDP loss of 15 percent in China, 12 percent in India, 12 percent for ASEAN economies and four percent in Brazil.
"Claims that early and deep cuts in emissions are warranted to mitigate the risk of irreversible damage are not supported by the technical analysis or economic assessments in the Fourth Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
"Bali presents us with a great opportunity to develop a global strategy to tackle climate change but it is crucial for the international community to appreciate the importance of balancing implementation of climate change goals with economic development strategies and practices," said Oxley.
World Growth was founded by Alan Oxley and launched at the WTO ministerial in December 2005 in Hong Kong. It aims to expand the education, information and other resources available to disadvantaged populations to improve their health and economic welfare.
(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2007)
