EU-Digest: BALI- Watered Down UN Climate Deal Victory for US but Loss to the World

US the largest polluter of the world

Special EU-Digest report on the UN Bali Climate Conference

BALI-Watered Down UN Climate Deal Victory for US but Loss to the World

The head of the U.S. delegation -- Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky -- was booed Saturday afternoon when she announced that the United States was rejecting the plan as then written because they were "not prepared to accept this formulation." She said developing countries needed to carry more of the responsibility. While rhetoric at such conferences is often just words, a short speech by a delegate from the small developing country of Papua New Guinea appeared to carry weight with the Americans. The delegate challenged the United States to "either lead, follow or get out of the way." Just five minutes later, when it appeared the conference was on the brink of collapse, Dobriansky took to the floor again to announce the United States was willing to accept the arrangement. The EU wanted an agreement to require developed countries to cut their emissions by 25 to 40 percent of 1990 levels by 2020. The United States opposes those targets, along with Japan and Canada. The latest draft of the agreement removes the specific figures and instead, in a footnote, references the scientific study that supports them. The talks have agreed to a watered down road-map for two-year negotiations on a new climate regime. The decision includes a clear agenda for the key issues to be negotiated up to 2009, including action for adapting to the negative consequences of climate change, such as droughts and floods; ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ways to widely deploy climate-friendly technologies and financing both adaptation and mitigation measures. Concluding negotiations in 2009 will ensure that the new deal can enter into force by 2013, following the expiry of the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol, the UNFCCC said in a press release. The planned treaty would take effect at the end of 2012 when the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires. The Kyoto Protocol, which binds 36 industrialized countries to reduce emissions by an average 5 percent below the 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012.

"The U.S. has been humbled by the overwhelming message by developing countries that they are ready to be engaged with the problem, and it's been humiliated by the world community. I've never seen such a flip-flop in an environmental treaty context ever," said Bill Hare of Greenpeace. The European Union, which dropped earlier objections to the draft text, said it was pleased with the deal. "At the end of the day, we got an extremely weak agreement," said Sunita Narain, head of the Centre for Science and the Environment in New Delhi. "It's obvious the U.S. is not learning to be alive to world opinion.

Unfortunately the actions of the US delegation during the Bali conference once again exposed the US Government's true colors on the issue, which is not the green of the environment, but rather the green of the dollar.

Telegraph.co.uk: Anger at US Bali proposals 'two weeks too late' - by Charles Clover

For the complete report by the Telegraph click on this link

Bali: Anger at US Bali proposals 'two weeks too late' - by Charles Clover

The EU wants to see formal negotiations launched for a new treaty with an end date of 2009 for signing a deal, and continued to insist on mention of a science-based target of 25 per cent to 40 per cent emissions cuts for developed countries. In the morning, Stavros Dimas, the European Environment commissioner, said: "We are entering the final hours and I can report that there has been progress."Friends of the Earth executive director Tony Juniper said: "The US are behaving like first class passengers on a jumbo jet who believe an emergency in economy class does not affect them. "But if we go down, we go down together and the US needs to realize that very quickly." Sources close to European delegations said that "big beasts" from the US, taken to mean vice-president, Dick Cheney, had been telephoning European delegations to seek out a compromise over the emission reduction figures in the agreement.

EU-Digest: The US will probably get a "consensus" because the EU has not got the courage to bi-pass the US (Bush Administration) and go ahead on setting goals with the rest of the world, or even let this conference die and wait one year to call another meeting, after the "evil forces" in the White House have been replaced by more moderate Republicans or Democrats. What is this great fear of America on issues which can mean life or death on the planet ?

The Canadian Press: Disaster in Bali: UN conference expected to reach agreement on watered-down climate deal

For the complete report from The Canadian Press click on this link

UN conference expected to reach agreement on watered-down climate deal

"There is a wrecking crew here in Bali, led by the Bush administration and its minions. Those minions continue to be the governments of Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia and others," said Jennifer Morgan, of the Climate Change Network.A draft of the final report to a UN climate conference suggests Canada is about to get its wish of watered-down targets from the ones proposed by Europe and poorer countries. The 11th-hour draft strips out any reference to tough global emissions targets for 2020, which were blocked by several wealthy countries, including the United States, Japan, Russia and Canada. The draft, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press, leaves in a more opaque statement that global emissions should "peak" within 10 or 15 years, and must fall to well under half of 2000 levels by 2050. The reference to 2000 will come as a letdown to many Kyoto signatories - especially the Europeans.