At Climate meet in Poland… : Former President Jagdeo plugs urgent global action on Climate Change : –urges ‘Heads’ to meaningfully engage each other

GUYANA’s former President, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, has joined other world leaders in their call for urgent global action on climate change.The appeal was made early last week in the Polish capital, Warsaw, meeting place of the just-concluded UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

According to a release issued yesterday, he met Wednesday morning with UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon to specifically focus on the needs of the smallest and most vulnerable states, including those in the 39-member Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). He is said to have supported the delegation from the Republic of Nauru in the South Pacific, which currently holds the chairmanship of AOSIS, in their conversations with the Secretary-General about the threats to their members. Mr. Jagdeo also brought the Secretary-General up to speed on what took place at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka during discussions about climate finance, specifically the report of the Commonwealth Expert Group on Climate Finance, which he chaired. Speaking with journalists after the meeting with Ban, Mr. Jagdeo reportedly echoed a sentiment he shared with Commonwealth Heads of Government, this being the need for them to engage each other, if climate change is to be significantly addressed. “The world has committed to finalising a legally binding climate agreement by 2015; that is now just two years away,” he said, adding: “If we are to have a chance of averting catastrophic climate change, climate change has to become a Heads of Government issue between now and then. Leaving it to Environment Ministers or officials will be inadequate. “That is why I fully support Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s plans for a Climate Summit in New York next year.” He also stressed that the international community could do much more between now and 2015 to make a practical difference for the world’s most vulnerable countries. “In my engagements with the leaders of AOSIS,” he said, “they emphasised their practical needs today; not in 2015. There is a lot the world can do to help the world’s most