By Pascal Fletcher
Port of Spain - Commonwealth states representing a third of the world's people said on Sunday momentum was growing towards a global climate deal, but nagging doubts remained over funding levels and degrees of commitment.
Seeking to successfully tip the outcome of United Nations climate talks on December 7-18 in Copenhagen, the group of more than 50 nations from across the world made the climate change issue the centrepiece of a three-day summit in Trinidad and Tobago.
They declared firm support for an "operationally binding" deal to be achieved in Copenhagen that would cover tougher greenhouse gas emissions targets, climate adaptation financing for poorer nations and transfer of clean-energy technology.
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'There is heavy traffic on the road to Copenhagen' The Commonwealth group, which welcomed Rwanda as its 54th member, called for a full legally binding climate treaty to be adopted "no later than 2010" and insisted fast funding be made available to poor states to counter the global warming threat.
Commonwealth leaders hailed the consensus achieved in their Port of Spain Climate Change Declaration as improving the odds for a comprehensive agreement in Copenhagen and as proof that their geographically diverse group was a viable institution.
"There is heavy traffic on the road to Copenhagen. The good news is that it is converging and hopefully moving purposefully into a single lane," Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said in comments closing the Port of Spain summit.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the presidents of Denmark and France, had participated in the Commonwealth summit, adding weight to the group's climate deliberations.
"I have no doubt it will make an impact on Copenhagen," South African President Jacob Zuma told reporters.
But even as the Commonwealth leaders were congratulating themselves on their climate consensus, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was declaring in China that pledges made so far by governments to cut greenhouse gases were not sufficient for an effective pact to fight global warming.
"If you sum up all the commitments made so far, according to our estimates, we are not yet where we should be if we want Copenhagen to succeed," said Barroso, who will attend a European Union-China summit in Nanjing on Monday.
"There is still much work to be done," acknowledged Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Port of Spain. - Reuters
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