Unity is fragile within the G-77

Indonesia, former chair of the Group of 77, proposes to extend the time frame for a new global climate treaty until June 2010. But there is a conflict of interests within the group, The Jakarta Post reports.
08/12/2009 17:30 - Division among the members makes it difficult for the Group of 77 (or G-77) to speak with one voice. This may hamper the negotiations at the ongoing UN conference in Copenhagen.

“Differences between (…) nations grouped under the G-77 are growing wider on almost all crucial issues, making it increasingly difficult for the climate talks to produce a consensus,” The Jakarta Post reports.

The newspaper refers to a proposal from Indonesia, former chair of the group, to extend the existing time table for the UN negotiations – the so-called Bali road map – so that a new global agreement would be reached by June 2010 at the latest instead of here in Copenhagen.

“This time frame is more realistic for a politically binding agreement, given the huge differences among G-77 member states,” Tri Tharyat, Indonesia’s negotiator, tells The Jakarta Post noting that other major G-77 members like China, India, Brazil and South Africa “have yet to respond to Indonesia’s proposal”.

The G-77, currently chaired by Sudan, was set up in 1964. Nowadays it is comprised of 130 countries, mostly within the developing world. A major division within the group is between poor countries and nations with rapidly evolving economies, but interests also vary between countries with and without oil production and countries with and without large forests, following The Jakarta Post analysis.

Da United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change