Marrakech, Nov 9, 2001 -
There is only a few hours left of the COP7.
However, the Japanese government is still trying to re-negotiate the Bonn Agreement and is maintaining the hard-liner stance against an accord to be reached at Marrakech. Consequently, the fate of a Marrakech accord has become very uncertain.
What we are hearing is that the Japanese government is against linking eligibility as a participation requirement in the Kyoto Mechanisms to the compliance regime. However, this has been already agreed by Minister Kawaguchi at Bonn. Weakening the language or asking for deletion of the text will run totally counter to what has been agreed to at Bonn and it is completely unacceptable. We hear that most of the Parties are finding it difficult to understand the Japanese government's position.
Minister Kawaguchi, in her speech at the plenary of the Ministerial on 7th November, said, "Japan intends to adhere faithfully to the Bonn Agreement. We call upon all Parties not to reopen the Agreement." What the government is currently doing is clearly against this statement.
The Japanese government should stop renegotiating the Bonn Agreement and show flexibility towards a Marrakech accord. If Japanese government continues to reject an accord, Japan will have killed the Kyoto Protocol with its own hands.
There is no time left. We strongly demand Minister Kawaguchi to negotiate constructively without re-negotiating the Bonn Agreement so that the legal text could be agreed at Marrakech and have the work done.
Japanese NGOs
- Citizens' Alliance for Saving the Atmosphere and the Earth (CASA)
- Friends of the Earth, Japan
- Kiko Network
- World Wide Fund for Nature, Japan (WWF)