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African nations agree to return to climate talks
After a brief walkout on Monday, African nations attending UN talks on climate change in Copenhagen agreed to return to the negotiations.
Ethiopia's President Girma Wolde Giorgis (C) and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (L) at a farewell ceremony for their delegation heading to Copenhagen
The African nations were objecting to what they saw as efforts by some nations to sideline the Kyoto Protocol which sets specific targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change.
Gabon's representative to the Copenhagen talks, Etienne Masa, said African nations were united in their insistence on an accord that was both ambitious and equitable.
"Africa's voice must be heard, taken into account in the same way other voices being expressed here, because Africa didn't come here as a sacrificial lamb. African citizens must know that the mandate given their negotiators here in Copenhagen will be honored in such a way that we don't bequeath to our children the heavy burden of climate change."
Many developed nations want to merge the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, into a new, single accord with obligations for all to fight global warming. Developing nations, on the other hand, want to extend the Kyoto Protocol and work out a separate new deal for developing nations who have been least responsible for the greenhouse gases causing climate change.
Gerry Adams, United Nations Radio
(duration: 1'19")
