Francophone Nations Commit to Cut CO2 Emissions in Half by 2050. AFP, October 20, 2008."Seventy French-speaking nations and regional governments pledged to help cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, at the close of the 12th Francophonie summit on Sunday. The group reaffirmed its backing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. And it said it would draft a 'concerted francophone position' for upcoming climate change conferences in Poznan in December and Copenhagen in 2009... From the start, the question of climate change had been a contentious issue at the francophone summit, with co-hosts Canada and its province Quebec clashing over wording of a resolution. France and Quebec had called for action on climate change, while Canada preferred a broader focus on the environment, according to sources. In a final declaration, the Francophonie pledged to 'cooperate so that all of our countries can develop national policies to meet a common objective of reducing by at least 50 percent global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Thus France and Canada are now set on a path toward a common climate change front. At a press conference, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper also announced 100 million dollars in aid for poorer countries most affected by warming. Omar Bongo Ondimba, president of Gabon in west central Africa, said on behalf of the delegates, they were also preoccupied with access to clean drinking water, water for agriculture, and management of cross-border waters. They also put forth strategies to preserve the Congo Basin forest, the world's second largest tropical forest, and on biodiversity."
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