The President of Brazil, Luis Lula da Silva, used an impassioned speech to world leaders in Copenhagen on Friday to take action to prevent poor nations becoming the main victims of climate change.
'Now is the time to act,' President Lula told the plenary session of the United Nations conference. 'The verdict of history will not save those that failed their responsibilities at this moment.'
He said that climate change was the most serious facing humanity and said that controlling global warming was 'fundamental' to protecting the environment, allowing economic growth and overcoming 'unacceptable social exclusion'.
'We need concrete actions and fair actions that will be supported by financial means and technology means,' he said.
He said that developed countries should take on more ambitious targets at the top end of the 25-40% reductions by 2020 recommended by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change.
He said advanced countries should use the Kyoto Protocol as the basis for committing to deep cuts in emissions, pointing out that many developing countries had taken actions to mitigate emissions even in the absence of firm commitments of international financial assistance.
He warned delegates: 'This conference is not a game where you can hide cards up your sleeves. If we just wait until our partners place their bets and discover we will be too late, we will all be losers.'
From:
http://www.actoncopenhagen.decc.gov.uk/en/ambition/achievements/december/18-dec-lula-save-poor-nations---- --- ----
I#ll add the full transcript when I can find it.
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