Rich Nation Aid Needed on Climate Change -- MALAYSIA

++ Malaysia Urges Rich Nations to Give Funds, Technology to Fight Climate Change -- Yeay for MALAYSIA!! =) ++

Monday October 29

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Developed nations, which are some of the world's greatest polluters, should provide the technological and financial means to help poor countries fight climate change, Malaysia's deputy leader said Monday.
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, opening a two-day regional conference on climate change, said developing countries lacked the means to gain new technology for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite global efforts, he noted that greenhouse gas concentrations have been projected to increase by 42 percent in 2100 from the 2005 levels.
"Technology transfer and capacity building are essential in our fight against climate change. Greater international momentum on technology transfer is needed," he told some 300 delegates from Southeast Asian governments, companies and environmental groups.
"While technologies are held by private companies, governments can help to promote international collaboration to overcome barriers faced," he said.
"Countries will commit themselves to the climate change efforts at the international level only if such efforts are congruent with those of national interests," he said. "This means that different types of targets ... will have to be in place so that all countries can participate effectively." He didn't elaborate.
Officials said the conference is aimed at identifying common approaches to tackle climate change ahead of a December summit on Indonesia's Bali island, where environment ministers from 80 countries will discuss a replacement for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Najib called for a fair and equitable replacement for the Protocol, which expires in 2012, and suggested flexibility be given to developing nations.
The treaty requires 36 industrial nations to reduce the heat-trapping gases emitted by power plants and other industrial, agricultural and transportation sources, but critics say it did not go far enough and are pushing for a more stringent regime next time around.
The United States and Australia, which kept out of Kyoto, also do not want to sign onto a new treaty setting caps on emissions unless China and India -- who argue that such a deal would impede their booming economies -- agree. So far, that seems unlikely.
Su-Lin Garbett, an economist with Britain's climate change office, said there has been greater awareness on climate change in the U.S. and Australia but any binding agreement is not likely in Bali.
"We are hopeful there will be significant progress in Bali. It will be helpful but Bali won't be the answer everyone is hoping for," she said. "There is still a lot of work to do."
A post-Kyoto framework will only be effective if the United States, China and India, come on board, she added.