Tearfund Rebukes UN for 'Staggering Complacency' of Climate Change Proposals

Proposals put forward at the UN Climate Change Conference in Nairobi, Kenya display "staggering complacency", UK Christian relief and development agency Tearfund has said.

As a Climate Change Bill features today in the Queen's speech, Tearfund has expressed its disappointment at the UN proposals that have emerged at the Nairobi conference, held to help reduce rich countries' emissions after 2012 when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends.

Tearfund explains that the proposals contain no plan to agree a global target and no adequate timetable to reach agreement on emissions cuts.

"The proposals being put forward to the arriving ministers and Heads of State to agree are shockingly weak," said Andy Atkins, Advocacy Director of Tearfund.

"Governments are setting off on a journey without stating the final destination. The uncompromising urgency of the Stern Review and other recent reports is completely absent. These proposals will run a high risk of not meeting the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change goal of avoiding 'dangerous' climate change."