Wednesday, 9 December 2009

FM Represents Cambodia at UN Climate Change Summit


Tuesday, 08 December 2009 04:25 DAP-NEWS

(Posted by CAAI News Media)

The Cambodian government will send Hor Namhong, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, to represent Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the UN climate change summit in Copen- hagen, Denmark from 9 December, an MFA spokesman said on Monday.

Hor Namhong will leave Cambodia on December 12 and travel via France to Denmark, Koy Kuong, also MFA undersecretary of state, told DAP News Cambodia by phone.

From December 16-17, the climate change meeting will be joined by heads of governments and states, he added. Countries are trying to hammer out a deal to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent climate change. The Danish capital, Copenhagen, is playing host to delegations from 192 countries gathering for the beginning of the UN summit on climate change, described by some scientists as the ‘most important’ the world has ever seen.

Organizers are expecting 15,000 delegates and 100 world leaders over the next two weeks. The summit will have to overcome deep distrust between rich and poor nations about sharing the cost of emissions cuts. South Africa has added new impetus to the talks, saying on Sunday that it would cut its carbon emissions to 34 per cent below expected levels by 2020, if rich countries furnished financial and technological help. Fifty-six newspapers across the world (including local rag the Cambodia Daily) have published a common editorial warning that failure to reach a “fair and effective” deal at the crucial UN talks will spell disaster for future generations.

Most have taken the unusual step of featuring the editorial on their front pages, according to UK’s Guardian, which drafted the piece during more than a month of consultations with editors ahead of the summit.

The editorial—published yesterday in 20 languages including Chinese, Arabic and Russian in newspapers around the world ranging from France’s Le Monde to the Miami Herald—begins: “Today 56 newspapers in 45 countries take the unprecedented step of speaking with one voice through a common editorial. We do so because humanity faces a profound emergency.”

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