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)
