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Pablo Solon, The Guardian, Dec 21, 2010 — Diplomacy is traditionally a game of alliance and compromise. Yet in the early hours of Saturday 11 December, Bolivia found itself alone against the world: the only nation to oppose the outcome of the United Nations climate change summit in Cancún. We were accused of being obstructionist, obstinate and unrealistic. Yet in truth we did not feel alone, nor are we offended by the attacks. Instead, we feel an enormous obligation to set aside diplomacy and tell the truth. Read the rest of this entry »
By Adalid Cabrera Lemuz
La Paz, Dec 20 (ABI) – President Evo Morales denied Monday that Bolivia stood alone at the climate change conference in Cancun, saying instead that it preferred “to be on the side of the peoples of the world that defend life in the face of aggression toward the environment and the planet.”
Morales said Bolivia refused to sign the Cancun Accord “based on the principle of responsibility and the need to defend Mother Earth, which is under attack from the irrational politics of industrialization of the developed nations.” Read the rest of this entry »
Press Briefing (Download PDF)
December 11, 2010 (Cancun, Mexico) – The Plurinational State of Bolivia believes that the Cancun text is a hollow and false victory that was imposed without consensus, and its cost will be measured in human lives. History will judge harshly.
There is only one way to measure the success of a climate agreement, and that is based on whether or not it will effectively reduce emissions to prevent runaway climate change. This text clearly fails, as it could allow global temperatures to increase by more than 4 degrees, a level disastrous for humanity. Recent scientific reports show that 300,000 people already die each year from climate change-related disasters. This text threatens to increase the number of deaths annually to one million. This is something we can never accept.
Last year, everyone recognized that Copenhagen was a failure both in process and substance. Yet this year, a deliberate campaign to lower expectations and desperation for any agreement has led to one that in substance is little more than Copenhagen II.
A so-called victory for multilateralism is really a victory for the rich nations who bullied and cajoled other nations into accepting a deal on their terms. The richest nations offered us nothing new in terms of emission reductions or financing, and instead sought at every stage to backtrack on existing commitments, and include every loophole possible to reduce their obligation to act.
While developing nations – those that face the worst consequences of climate change – pleaded for ambition, we were instead offered the “realism” of empty gestures. Proposals by powerful countries like the US were sacrosanct, while ours were disposable. Compromise was always at the expense of the victims, rather than the culprits of climate change. When Bolivia said we did not agree with the text in the final hours of talks, we were overruled. An accord where only the powerful win is not a negotiation, it is an imposition.
Bolivia came to Cancun with concrete proposals that we believed would bring hope for the future. These proposals were agreed by 35,000 people in an historic World People’s Conference Cochabamba in April 2010. They seek just solutions to the climate crisis and address its root causes. In the year since Copenhagen, they were integrated into the negotiating text of the parties, and yet the Cancun text systematically excludes these voices. Bolivia cannot be convinced to abandon its principles or those of the peoples we represent. We will continue to struggle alongside affected communities worldwide until climate justice is achieved.
Bolivia has participated in these negotiations in good faith and the hope that we could achieve an effective climate deal. We were prepared to compromise on many things, except the lives of our people. Sadly, that is what the world’s richest nations expect us to do. Countries may try to isolate us for our position, but we come here in representation of the peoples and social movements who want real and effective action to protect the future of humanity and Mother Earth. We feel their support as our guide. History will be the judge of what has happened in Cancun.
PRESS RELEASE (Download PDF)
Cancun, Mexico (12/10/10) – As the final hours of the COP16 conference approached, representatives of countries most affected by climate change came together to make an appeal to developed countries “to do what is right” by fulfilling an ambitious second period of commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and providing new and additional aid for climate adaptation and mitigation. Read the rest of this entry »
Some select quotes from President Evo Morales’ speech and press conference at the UN climate talks in Cancun today. You can watch the press conference at http://webcast.cc2010.mx/webmedia_en.html?id=248 and the speech (in Spanish) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVv3s4uST-k
On what the goal of the summit should be:
“Our aim here is to look at how to cool down planet Earth. Our planet has a high temperature, it is wounded, and we are witnessing the convulsions of planet Earth. We have an enormous responsibility toward life and humanity. … I call on leaders to take responsibility, and make history by responding to the demands of the people.”
Read the rest of this entry »
There will be a public event with President Evo Morales Ayma of the Plurinational State of Bolivia on Thursday afternoon at 3pm at the Centro Deportivo Jacinto Canek (intersection of Avenida Tulum and Chichen Itza) in Cancun, Mexico. All are invited to attend.
In an in depth interview with Democracy Now, Ambassador Pablo Solon shares:
- Bolivia’s perspective on wikileak revelations on US use of blackmail to secure support for Copenhagen Accord,
- the lack of progress so far in Cancun as Developed Countries try to reduce responsibilities and impose them instead on Developing Nations
- why Bolivia will not walk out on negotiations
In a press conference this morning at the COP16 climate negotiations in Cancun, Ambassador Pablo Solon of the Plurinational State of Bolivia said that a new text released yesterday by the Chair of the working group on Long-Term Cooperative Action is imbalanced, and excludes the proposals of Bolivia and many other developing nations. The main differences, Solon indicated, must be ironed out in negotiations among countries rather than unilaterally decided by a Chair. Read the rest of this entry »
Speech by Ambassador Pablo Solon of the Plurinational State of Bolivia
December 4, 2010 – Cancun, Mexico
Thank you very much, President.
We would like, first of all, to emphasize the great effort put forth on the part of Margaret in presenting us this text, which we will study very carefully. We would like to express in a preliminary manner that, nonetheless, we lament the fact that the imbalances in the earlier text have not been overcome in this second version. Read the rest of this entry »
ALBA Denounces Developed Country Attempts to Rupture Kyoto Protocol
PRESS RELEASE (12/3/10, Cancun, Mexico) — In his evaluation of the development of the Climate Summit held in the Mexican city of Cancun, the Ambassador of Bolivia to the United Nations Pablo Solon said in a press conference today: “Unfortunately, as of the fifth day, we have advanced very little on substantive issues. There was progress on issues that are not related to the core of this negotiation, which is the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions. What we have, after five days of work, is total uncertainty about the continuity of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.” Read the rest of this entry »
World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth 