Ecologists berated Washington and Tokyo for failing to come up with sufficient funding for urgent environmental issues after a UN conference on combating desertification ended on Saturday in Madrid without agreement on a budget for a 10-year action plan.
The Ecologists in Action pressure group, attending as an observer, dubbed the conference a failure, despite the plan being approved, because no money was pledged to implement it.
The group pinned the blame on Japan and the US for the setback.
Participating nations drew up a 10-year action plan to "revitalize" a 1994 UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCDD), which 191 nations signed in Paris, and provide some financial backing.
But finding the cash proved a sticking point, leaving 70 non-governmental organizations present to criticize "the constant passiveness" and "absence of intervention" by UNCCD signatory nations.
"There was a problem in negotiating the budget," a UNCCD spokeswoman said after a meeting that went beyond its Friday deadline into the early hours of Saturday in a last-ditch attempt to achieve a concrete outcome.
The UNCCD grew out of the 1992 Earth Summit. Since the summit, growing evidence of climate change and desertification, which environmental experts say threatens up to one-third of the world's population, has increased the sense of urgency.
But after trying to thrash out a budgetary framework throughout Friday night the meeting ended amid opposition led by Japan.
The Japanese had originally given backing for a 5 percent rise in the budget, projected at 17 million euros (US$23 million) for next year to 2009.
"There was a consensus until three in the morning, but they changed their minds and there was no agreement," Ecologists in Action coordinator Theo Oberhuber said.
Organizers earlier had estimated economic losses stemming from soil degradation at an annual 47.6 billion euros.
Ecologists in Action said it saw the event as a failure.
"Even if the 10-year plan was passed, there exists, in the absence of a budget, a major risk that it will not be applied," the organization said.
Participating nations will now have to go back to the drawing board to thrash out costs.
See:
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS