IT is official, the Copenhagen Climate Change accord was not signed and, therefore, it has no legal binding to any party or individual as stipulated in the UN International charter.

The question is, why should the developing countries be required to submit their emission targets for the year 2020 and the same requirement remains silent on the rich countries? Even if the accord was there as reported will they respect it without a legal and policy framework to enforce it.

Africans are already compromised and the so-called Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment cannot help them unless they come out with one voice to demand a binding accord that can benefit them in future. The rich are compromising the poor and they are to blame for the environmental degradation.

Even if there were financial commitments from the rich countries Africans should never take this money for the sake of it because they will have been compromised and the future will judge our action and punish us accordingly.
The writer, Patson Baraire, is an environment activist