Exercise 5. Fill in the blanks with the words from the text

Climate ___ is undoubtedly the single ___ issue of the 21st century. So says Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of the Environment Dr. Roodal Moonilal. He told the high-level segment at the 16th Climate Change Conference in Cancun that climate change and the ___ layer issue are an unprecedented ___ to mankind and one which can undermine development efforts, ___ of poverty and sustained economic growth.

He emphasized: “Trinidad and Tobago is ___ presented with the growing ___ of developing sustainably while ensuring ___ economic growth. We find ourselves in a unique position as a ___ resources producer with a still growing industrial sector, but also as a small island developing state possessing inherent characteristics that define our vulnerability. Mitigation and adaptation, including biological ___ problems and ___ impact, are therefore of equal ___ to us. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago acknowledges that all countries that are ratified signatories to the UNFCCC have a legally binding responsibility to ___ to achieving the objective of the UNFCCC, regardless of the quantum of their ___ gas emissions. Trinidad and Tobago is committed to contributing to this objective. However, we reject the use of per capita ___ emissions or any other such metric as any basis for defining the obligations of countries to reduce their emissions.

Minister Moonilal said Trinidad and Tobago believes that equity ___ needed to be defined, not on any notion of polluting ___, but on the rights of all countries to develop in a sustainable manner and not at the expense of others.

Trinidad and Tobago as a responsible member of the global community recognizes the need to take domestic action and they have drafted a ___ change policy as well as ___ strategies and approaches to address their ___ gas emissions. Their goal is to define an ambitious, yet practically feasible greenhouse gas emissions ___ objective in the near future. At the same time, adaptation remains their major concern and their ability to address climate change ___ will ___ depend on the level of technological and financial support provided by our developed country partners. In this regard, it is important that Cancun should achieve a commitment to strive for ___ cuts that would lead to ___ warming of no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.