Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Wednesday his country could host an international summit on climate change in April, which could become an alternative to Copenhagen climate talks held in December, Latin American media reported.
"In April next year, I intend to convene the world's public organizations for this international peoples' conference on climate change," the Bolivian leader told journalists, adding "we will invite not only peoples and public organizations, but also scientists, academicians and experts."
Morales, who was declared by the United Nations "World Hero of Mother Earth" for his environmental protection activities, said "Mother Earth's rights" would be discussed at the conference in Bolivia. He said the talks would take place on International Mother Earth Day, on April 22, ahead of a summarizing climate conference in Mexico due in late 2010.
The UN climate summit, which took place in the Danish capital on December 7-18, was originally expected to see the signing of a new binding agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, some points of which expire in 2012. However, participants of the talks failed to agree on greenhouse emissions cuts and only agreed on measures to be taken to keep average increases in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius.
Only several countries have signed a declarative agreement on fighting climate change. The document was sharply criticized by Latin American states such as Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua, which claimed that their opinion was not taken into consideration while the document was discussed and that the discussions were not transparent.
British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has criticized Bolivia, along with other leftwing Latin American countries, China and Sudan, for trying to hijack the climate talks and "hold the world at ransom" to prevent an agreement from being reached.
MOSCOW, December 23 (RIA Novosti)
