Africa Threatens to Veto Climate Deal!

"If needs be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threaten to be another rape of our continent,” said Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who will represent the African Union at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen.

Africa will veto any global climate change agreement that does not meet its demand for money from rich nations to cut the impact of global warming on the continent, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Thursday.

"We will use our numbers to delegitimize any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position," Meles told a conference of climate change experts in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, according to Reuters.

"If needs be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threaten to be another rape of our continent."

Meles did not specify how much money Africa would be looking for at December’s UN climate conference in Copenhagen. However, some experts have said the continent should ask for up to $200 billion a year.

Africa contributes little to the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming but is expected to be the hardest hit by the drought and flooding cycle that is already affecting parts of the continent.

Last month, ten African leaders held talks at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa and agreed on a common stance ahead of the Copenhagen talks.

"Africa will field a single negotiating team empowered to negotiate on behalf of all member states of the African Union," said Meles, a former rebel leader who has been chosen to represent the union in Copenhagen.

(source: http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=2022 )