The time is now - Gonzi

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday attempted to warm things up at the UN climate change summit, calling for a meaningful, effective and fair deal to be reached. But negotiations continued to look bleak in Copenhagen throughout the day.

"The fact that so many heads of states have arrived in Copenhagen means that the rhythm will now pick up and the substance can be consolidated. It is not easy, but now it is possible. Now it is make or break," he told the Maltese press after his address to the 192 countries participating in the summit.

"We haven't given up yet," he added, before the heads of government continued their discussions into the evening.

A long line of Prime Ministers and Presidents had three minutes each to have their say and call for the kind of deal they are hoping to achieve.

"Malta, together with its EU partners, has put forward significant quantifiable commitments. I now call upon you, our negotiating partners, at this crucial point in time, to engage more forcefully to reach a meaningful outcome," Dr Gonzi told the conference.

He said Malta had pledged its support, and committed itself with credibility and transparency by applying to be recognised as one of the Annex I countries - a list of developed countries, including all EU member states except Cyprus.

He said climate change impacted the most vulnerable countries, and as a small island state in the basin of the Mediterranean, Malta shared their concerns.

"Malta is likely to have to cope with grave problems including, in particular, water scarcity arising from diminished rainfall, but also other effects such as extreme weather conditions and rising sea water levels."

He also stressed that climate change could intensify immigration.

"Malta therefore recognises the need to provide the least developed countries, in particular vulnerable African countries, with adequate and effective capacity building and financing."

Dr Gonzi boasted that despite its size and limitations, Malta had in 1988 come up with the initiative that led to the adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The draft document currently being finalised in Copenhagen was primarily drawn up by two working groups, one of which was chaired by Malta's climate change ambassador Michael Zammit Cutajar, who played a high-profile role in seeking consensus.

Speaking to the local press yesterday, he said an agreement would be reached but he was not confident that it would be an ambitious one. The fundamental problem was that different blocs of countries had opposing visions from the start.

Mr Zammit Cutajar said one possibility was that the conclusion would be a mandate for work to continue until next year's conference in Mexico.

He said his draft document, which eventually was incorporated with the other document, aimed to rectify the imbalance between the developed and developing nations' expectations.

Meanwhile, Malta's climate change minister George Pullicino was also in Copenhagen yesterday to negotiate with other environment ministers.

He said it was unfortunate that the EU was the only bloc to come forward with positive and concrete proposals. However, there was still hope for things to change at the last minute, as had happened in previous summits.

The EU had proposed raising its own targets to fight climate change, as long as the commitment was equitable across the globe.

Mr Pullicino said by being part of the Annex I countries of the UN climate change convention Malta would not lose any benefits or take on any more burdens, but it would show its "moral" and "legal" commitment. Up till now, and until Malta's application is approved, Malta is listed as a developing country, even though the European community as a whole is already listed as Annex I.

He also took the opportunity to agree with the view that NGOs and protesters were unfairly pointing fingers at the EU.

"The problem with Europe is that we do a lot behind closed doors but we do not communicate our message clearly enough to the people out there," he said.

He said a positive sign was that the G77 countries were unusually divided, giving the other blocs an opportunity to engage them further into discussions.