| | |  Editorials | Environmental 
Al Gore Optimistic About Mexico Climate Summit
 Agence France-Presse
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October 06, 2010
| | Former US Vice President and environmental campaigner Al Gore, seen here speaking in Cancun, expressed optimism Monday about possible advances at a key UN climate summit in Mexico in December. (AFP/Luis Acosta) | |
Mexico City – Former US Vice President and environmental campaigner Al Gore expressed optimism Monday about possible advances at a key UN climate summit in Mexico in December, as gridlocked talks reopened in China.
"I'm one of those who are in the field of optimism about the meeting in Cancun," Gore, who won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the UN panel on climate change, told a meeting of business leaders in Mexico City.
Gore underlined that he was not necessarily optimistic for a final deal in Cancun, but rather for "the goal that we are going to reach, we have to reach this goal."
Mexico's environment minister meanwhile sought to lower expectations ahead of the November 29 to December 10 summit, pointing to widespread disappointment after the last major meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, where nations failed to reach a binding deal on global emissions cuts.
"There was overwhelming optimism in Copenhagen. There was a belief that they would resolve all the world's problems and they didn't manage it," Juan Elvira Quesada said.
Participants in Mexico should concentrate on "realistic and ambitious solutions," he added.
Gore lauded efforts to combat climate change from the business community, despite cost-cutting due to the economic crisis, saying they had been ahead of politicians "in many places and in many ways."
The two-day preparatory meeting, to end Tuesday, included executives from multinational companies such as Nestle and Volvo as well as UN representatives.
Six days of climate talks meanwhile opened Monday in China, in further preparation for Cancun under long-running UN efforts to secure a post-2012 treaty to limit global warming. |
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