Rwanda Minister of Natural resources, Stanislas Kamanzi has said that developed countries should put more commitment in dealing with impacts of global warming though arrangements under Kyoto protocol are soon expiring.
However, the Minister said that new arrangements under negotiations also point to that commitment.
Kamanzi added that developed Nations have to abide by their obligations to cut their emissions as defined for all annex 1 under the Kyoto Protocol.
Asked about the contribution of Rwanda to curb global warming impacts, Kamanzi said “this is based on government choice to embrace a low carbon development pathway.”
Earlier this week during the 14th ordinary session of the African Environment Ministerial Conference (AMCEN) Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has challenged African environment ministers to put industrial nations to task for their slow action to reverse degradation of the global environment and the rising global warming.
Kikwete remarked that these are countries with the necessary financial resources, technology and skills to undertake the task but lack the political will.
Kikwete said that the people in Africa suffer the most though they contribute the least to global warming, adding that the effects and problems of increased global warming were no longer hypothetical but real in many parts of Africa.
Turning to African countries, the president said the blame should not be solely directed to developed nations.
“We too have to put in place environment friendly policies and take action to rehabilitate the areas we have destroyed,” he noted.
Meanwhile, representatives of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) assured the ministers of their institutional support to further the agenda of sustainable development.
AfDB representative Anthony Nyong said the Bank commended the flagship programmes for sustainable development which the conference agreed, adding that it would release a total of US$ 6.4 billion to support investments in energy, water and transport projects between 2011 and 2015.
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