Guyana

An old acquaintance of WDM was speaking at the opening of the ministerial part of the talks on Thursday morning: Bharrat Jagdeo, the President of Guyana. In 2003, WDM and a group of penguins successfully campaigned for the supermarket chain Iceland to cancel £12 million of illegitimate debt ‘owed’ to them by Guyana. President Jagdeo personally thanked two WDM staff somewhere in Heathrow airport.

The heads of government of Poland, Sweden and Tuvalu are here as well. Apisai Ielemia, President of Tuvalu, said: “Recent scientific evidence suggests that we must move rapidly for the future existence of countries like Tuvalu. Our future is in your hands. We must not sink by the problems caused by the big and industrialised countries. It is our belief that Tuvalu as a nation has a right to exist forever.”

Bharrat Jagdeo stated that “as an international community our efforts are woefully inadequate to the challenge we face”. With a message straight to European heads of government meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday he said: “If Europe sends a signal they can commit to deep cuts in emissions only in prosperous times, what are developing countries supposed to think?”