What did we get in Copenhagen?

We sent a high powered delegation to attend the just ended United National Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen. The Vice President, Dr Ali Mohammed Shein, led the delegation.

He had a chance to address the conference which was attended by hundreds of world leaders. The meeting was a culmination of two years debate on climate change, which centred on the need to reduce emission of gases which endangers the environment.

Africa went to the meeting with collective voice. Generally, the continent was demanding more responsibility from the developed world, as they are the major polluters of the globe. Africa also demanded ‘compensation’ from the rich world, as it was the one most impacted by the effects of global climatic changes.

But, even as Africa went to the meeting with collective voice, individual countries also had their demands. I hope Tanzania also went to the meeting with some demands.

It’s time we are told what did we attain during the two weeks debates in Copenhagen as we did sent high powered delegation on the expense of tax payers money. We should get nothing short of value for money from Copenhagen. We sent that delegation with clear mission and intensions of what we should gain from the meeting.

It will be very disappointing if our delegation had no specific Tanzanian agenda on pretext that Africa had collective demands. Tanzania is in Africa but that does not make it Africa. There are problems with regard to climate changes which are unique to Tanzania. We should have capitalised on them and used other African countries to compliment our arguments.

If we had banked on Africa agenda only, then we are doomed as we have witnessed how world leaders have pulled the debates and reached a conclusion which favours them greatly.

If we had no agenda, it means we have to live with what the rich nations have planned until the next rounds of talks and no one is assured what will be the outcome of the talks, if they are going to happen, anyway.