Chogm prepares way for climate deal

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Commonwealth leaders have left their two-yearly summit patting themselves on the back after agreeing their lines for United Nations climate change talks this month.

The agreement to seek "operationally binding" targets to cut greenhouse gases and a substantial fund to help developing countries adjust is significant, if for no other reason than the Commonwealth is more notable for self-interest and prevarication than strongly worded plans of attack.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago brought into sharp relief the dilemma if emission targets are not agreed at the crucial UN conference in Copenhagen.

The Maldives contingent spoke of holding a cabinet meeting in a submarine to illustrate the stark threat the low-lying Indian Ocean islands face from rising sea levels. Other small island states from the Caribbean and Pacific also pleaded for action, as did African nations at risk from prolonged droughts and food shortages.

In balancing their concerns against those of developing countries, whose economies would be undermined by big emissions cuts, the Commonwealth has swung in behind a proposal for a US$10 billion-a-year fund to help.

Prime Minister John Key is now describing such a fund as a "bottom line" to getting an agreement on cuts at Copenhagen, and says New Zealand's contribution of between $10 million and $50 million a year is "modest".

He wants the bulk of New Zealand's share paid through the proposed "global alliance" to share technology and research to cut greenhouse gases from farms.

Some countries may argue that New Zealand would be channelling its contribution into an area of direct benefit to its own economy. Half our greenhouse gases come from farm methane and nitrogen, and finding ways to curb them would significantly lower our liabilities.

However, Mr Key argues that advances in the area will also assist developing countries.

- © Fairfax NZ News