Belgian NGOs react with disappointment to Katowice
The NGO’s 11.11.11, WWF Belgium and the Belgian branch of Oxfam have reacted with disappointment to the outcome UN Climate Change Conference in the Polish city of Katowice. In a statement released on Sunday Oxfam Belgium said that rich countries “return home red-faced”.
However, WWF Belgium sees “a little progress”. Nevertheless, Belgium risks “missing the boat”.
Meanwhile, 11.11.11 says that Katowice “is not good news for the most vulnerable”.
11.11.11 adds that the Climate Summit has not been successful in addressing the climate emergency. The NGO sees this as “prove of a lack of responsibility towards the most vulnerable”.
The lack of explicit obligations for countries to improve their climate plans by 2020 is seen as “A missed opportunity that will have a big impact on developing countries that are already feeling the consequences of climate change” 11-11-11’s Head of Climate and Natural Resources Police Lien Vandamme told the press agency Belga. .
According to 11-11-11, the lack of uniform criteria to calculate the financing of international climate change measures means that a false picture is given about the contribution rich countries make to help tackle climate challenges in poorer countries.
WWF has little if any praise for Belgium’s contribution to the Conference. The organisation calls for greater ambition on the part of our country’s politicians.
"We now need to get all countries to revise up their climate ambitions before 2020 as everyone’s future depends on it.
Despite, the recent march for action on the climate in which 75,000 people took part, WWF says that Belgium chose to stay on the sideline
Meanwhile, Alba Saray Pérez Terán of Oxfam Solidarity’s Climate Change Policy staff believes that it is deeply regrettable that Belgium “failed to join aa wide coalition of countries that want stronger plaans to tackle climate change”.