Miliband: we can make progress on climate change

David Miliband, the environment secretary, today signalled the government's determination to make progress on climate change talks at the UN summit in Nairobi.
Speaking exclusively to Guardian Unlimited politics in the first of a week of podcasts during his five-day stay in Kenya, Mr Miliband said ministers hoped to move forward to help developing countries adapt to the challenges of climate change, as well as discussing future targets for reducing greenhouse emissions.


On a field trip to Tekina in north Kenya on the border with Uganda after visiting children in hospital suffering from starvation, Mr Miliband said: "The world is not going to cut a global emission deal this week, but we can develop and make progress."
The nomadic tribes in the region were seeing an assault on their way of life after three years of drought and were asking themselves "some pretty fundamental questions about their future" after centuries of unbroken tradition, he added.
Logging and the arrival of thirsty animals seeking water were putting extra pressure on local communities in critical need of the limited water supplies available, Mr Miliband said.
The minister said he hoped this week's talks would discuss how to provide more support to developing countries coping with the affects of climate change.
"It would be wrong to say climate change is solely responsible [for the drought]", Mr Miliband told Guardian Unlimited.
"About 50% of the children I have visited in hospital are clinically undernourished, but there is obviously a link between pressure on resources as a result of climate change and families struggling to feed their children."
Mr Miliband said he had talked to project workers who helped establish a water pump to help locals access water.
The minister meets Kenyan government ministers this evening before visiting an area on the outskirt of Nairobi to see the urban impact of climate change.
Also attending the conference is Ross Finnie, environment minister at the Scottish executive, who today contrasted Scotland's net improvement in cutting greenhouse emissions at a time when the European Union's collective track record showed an overall increase.
Since 1990, Scotland had reduced emissions by 14%, Mr Finnie said, showing greater improvement than any other part of the UK and most of the other EU member states.
Mr Finnie, who is also in Nairobi, said: "Small countries, states and regions have an important role in building momentum towards a concerted international response.
"That is why I am delighted that today's figures demonstrate that Scotland is taking the lead in tackling climate change.
"In Nairobi this week I will seek to build on the action we are taking internationally and I hope that Scotland's achievements and actions may inspire others to recognise that by working together we can make a difference."