GREENPEACE FINAL STATEMENT AT THE CLOSURE OF THE UNFCCC COP6

25 November 2000

The Hague - This meeting will be remembered as the moment when governments abandoned the promise of global co-operation to protect planet Earth.

Nearly ten years after the Rio Earth Summit, and three years after Kyoto, The Hague represents a U-turn. Rather than reducing emissions to curb global warming, greenhouse gas pollution limits will in fact be increased.

If governments continue to act irresponsibly, as they have done this week, then people from rich countries should prepare to build ever higher and wider dikes, from which they can watch the rest of the world suffer and drown from climate change. Either that or demand that politicians give them access to the solutions to climate change in the form of clean energy and energy efficiency.

Governments must stop acting as if this was a game. Climate change is happening, and more and more people will be the victims. Once again, the US has been successful with their favourite negotiating trick: in Kyoto they brought everyone down to the lowest common denominator; and now in The Hague they have moved away, leaving everyone else at the bottom.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Bill Hare (English) +31 621296899
- John Passacantando (USA) +31 6 12308875
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- Juan Carlos Villalonga (Spanish) +31 625031005
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- Remi Parmentier (French/Spanish) +31 653504702

Media office: Susan Cavanagh +31 6 21296910 or Jon Walter +31 653504731

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