[DEBATE] : "US rejects all proposals on climate change"

[Lee Hall]

"US rejects all proposals on climate change"


John Vidal, environment editor
Saturday May 26, 2007
The Guardian 

The US has rejected any prospect of a deal on climate change at the G8
summit in Germany next month, according to a leaked document. 

Despite Tony Blair's declaration on Thursday that Washington would sign up
to "at least the beginnings" of action to cut carbon emissions, a note
attached to a draft document circulated by Germany says the US is
"fundamentally opposed" to the proposals. 

...The tone is blunt, with whole pages of the draft crossed out and even the
mildest statements about confirming previous agreements rejected. "The
proposals within the sections titled 'Fighting Climate Change' and 'Carbon
Markets' are fundamentally incompatible with the President's approach to
climate change," says another red-ink comment. 

... Washington rejected the sections on carbon trading, saying to back
trading schemes would imply acceptance of emission caps. 

A diplomatic source said the German EU presidency and the US government
appeared now so far apart it was hard to see how negotiators could reach
anything other than a meaningless agreement in Heiligendamm in just under
two weeks. 

As well as cutting global emissions, Germany had stated in its draft that it
wanted agreement to curb the rise in average temperatures this century to 2C
and raise energy efficiency in power and transport by 20% by 2020. Both
positions are compatible with policies in California and other US states,
which have set their own targets and timetables. 

...The scene is set for a showdown between the US and other G8 countries who
want early action on climate change. Germany's environment minister, Sigmar
Gabriel, said the country was prepared to block decisions on other issues
unless the US and other G8 members made concessions on the environment. 

"America doesn't want to commit to firm goals. We can't put the global
future of our children at risk because of the narrow-mindedness of
individual negotiating partners."

Full:
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,2088786,00.html