13 December, 2010 — Bolivia Rising

La Paz, Dec 13 (DPA) Bolivia threatened Sunday to take court action to block the compromise deal reached in Mexico to confront the growing threat of climate change.

‘We will file a complaint with the International Court of Justice in The Hague against the text approved in Cancun,’ Boliva’s UN Ambassador Pablo Solon told the government daily El Cambio.

The deal was approved Saturday by all but one of the 194 nations who attended the international climate conference in the Mexican resort. Bolivia objected on the grounds it did not go far enough.

Despite a lack of unanimity, conference chairman Patricia Espinosa approved the comprise, which includes efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions, billions in aid to island nations faced with inundation and a 2-degree goal limit for global warming.

Solon had argued that the draft proposals were too lax to stop global warming, and he stood his ground until Espinosa banged the gavel at 3.31 a.m. after saying: ‘The objections and complaints will be noted duly.’ Espinosa’s very broad interpretation of UN rules that all agreements must be reached in harmony saved the conference. Harmony, she said, did not necessarily mean unanimity.

Solon claimed the way Bolivia’s position was overruled represented jettisoned the principle of consensus and was an ‘abuse of the framework agreement on climate protection’.