MEDIA REACTION: WATERING CLIMATE DOWN

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000085



SIPDIS



STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO



STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU



E.O. 12958 N/A

TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, PGOV, OPRC, NP

SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: WATERING CLIMATE DOWN



1. Navin Singh Khadka, a BBC journalist based in

London in an opinion piece on Friday, January 29,

2010 concludes that politics has begun to spell

disaster for the fight against climate change. "And

the political actors are none other than the same

gang of three - the U.S. and the major BASIC players

China and India - that brought forth the

controversial Copenhagen Accord," he says, adding

"As if the anarchy the accord has cast on the global

climate regime was not enough."



2. Excerpts: "It was something quite expected. But

not so soon and so fast. Hot on the heels of the

collapsed Copenhagen Summit, the global fight

against climate change has suffered one after

another severe blow. How things change within a

month or so. It was only five weeks ago when more

than 120 heads of state or government had met to see

what they could do to stabilize the changing

climate. No doubt there were serious doubts then

that they would strike a deal. But the fact that

they came together at least showed that climate was

a global challenge that the world did reckon with.

By the time the world leaders departed from the

Danish capital, however, the year ahead did not at

all look good for climate negotiations. Barely a

month since, and it is already coming so true. Just

when renewed controversies began to dog the issue of

Himalayan glacial retreat earlier this month, the

Democrats lost a Massachusetts Senate seat in the

U.S. Just one year in office, it was a huge setback

for President Barack Obama who had personally

campaigned in the election."



3. "... If this is what you see in the U.S. - the

key designer of the Copenhagen Accord - its allies

that signed the agreement offer no different

picture. Major players in the BASIC bloc - Brazil,

South Africa, India and China that together with the

U.S. signed the Copenhagen Accord - seem to be

cashing in on the IPCC's slip on the issue of

Himalayan glacial retreat. ... An even more

interesting, if not intriguing, move was made by

China. During a recent post-Copenhagen meeting in

New Delhi earlier this week, lead Chinese climate

negotiator Xie Zhenhua said he was keeping an "open

attitude" as to whether global warming was manmade

or due to nature cycles. ... The senior Chinese

official's comments contradict his country's

official position on climate change so far. Chinese

researchers themselves have been saying that the

glaciers in Tibet have been receding alarmingly due

to global warming. This is not to say that Beijing

or New Delhi should toe just one line on climate -

more so on the Himalaya as they are least studied

and have many uncertainties with regard to climatic

changes."



4. "Following the disputes surrounding the rate of

glacial retreat shows that the picture can be even

more complicated than that of glaciers. But more

than the science, it is politics that has begun to

spell disaster for the fight against climate change.

And the political actors are none other than the

same gang of three - the U.S. and the major BASIC

players China and India - that brought forth the

controversial Copenhagen Accord. As if the anarchy

the accord has cast on the global climate regime was

not enough."



CAMP