MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Latinamerica at the heart of a climate change deal, says Miliband

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband recalled that deforestation contributes 18% of total global emissions

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Monday a politically binding deal on climate change will only be struck with the agreement of leading South American countries.

At a roundtable event with London-based journalists from Brazil, Argentina and Mexico the Foreign Secretary said that Latin America was “at the heart” of delivering an agreement at the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.

“You are countries that are growing, countries that embody some of the big issues of low carbon economic development of technology transfer and the big issue that is sometimes forgotten but should never be forgotten - deforestation that contributes 18% of total global emissions”.

Further on Miliband said there won’t be a deal “unless countries like Argentina, Mexico and Brazil are clear that responsibility is being taken by advanced industrialised societies”.

David Miliband said they needed to see that that advanced countries such as the UK had clear and binding commitments.

“But that there also needs to be appropriate weight for all countries to make their contributions. The richest should do the most but everyone should do something – and that’s a good social justice principle”.

With 20 days to go “I think it is important that the Latin American voice is heard but it is also important that there is a dialogue between European countries and Latin American countries”.

David Miliband said the UK believed that there was still room to strike a climate change deal that was “effective, fair and ambitious”.