C
Captain Compassion
Guest
Merkel backs climate deal based on population
31 Aug 2007 09:54:50 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Claudia Kade
KYOTO, Japan, Aug 31 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said
she wanted to offer developing countries a compromise climate change
pact based on population size, but warned on Friday that negotiations
will be tough.
Merkel, who helped draw up the Kyoto Protocol on climate change as
Germany's environment minister in 1997, made global warming and talks
over a deal to succeed the protocol the focus of her three-day visit
to Japan.
"The question is: at what point can we involve developing countries,
and what kind of measure do we use to create a just world?" Merkel
said in Kyoto, the ancient Japanese capital where the 1997 protocol
was agreed.
Merkel suggested that developing countries should be allowed to
increase their emissions per capita while industrialised national cut
theirs, until both sides reach the same level.
She brought up the proposal when she met officials in China before
travelling to Japan, but the Chinese were sceptical, according to the
German delegation.
"Once (developing countries) reach the level of industrialised
countries, the reduction begins," Merkel said.
A similar idea was fielded by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
during the G8 summit with major developing countries in Germany in
June.
Under the Kyoto pact, 35 developed nations are obliged to cut
emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012.
Developing nations, many of which have signed the protocol, are not
obliged to make any reductions during the pact's first phase -- a
concession that saw the United States and Australia pull out of the
pact.
Both nations, among the world's top per-capita polluters, say it's
unfair that big developing nations such as China, India and Indonesia,
are excluded and view the pact as bad for their economies.
DIFFICULT ROAD AHEAD
Many developing countries, in turn, are worried that strict
environmental regulations will hamper economic growth. They demand
industrialised nations, as chief polluters, bear the brunt of emission
cuts.
In turn, wealthy nations with relatively small populations and large
industries fear a per-capita target could hurt them.
Currently, per-capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are far higher in
rich economies than in their poorer counterparts.
The United States produces about 20 tonnes of CO2 a year per capita,
Germany 11 tonnes and the European Union an average of 9 tonnes,
according to the German government.
China, on the other hand, churns out only 3.5 tonnes a year per head.
The global average is 4.2 tonnes.
Merkel repeated the aim was to halve global CO2 emissions by 2050.
"That's a very big goal, but it's the consensus among experts. If we
can't reach that, we'll pay for it dearly," she said. "If we don't do
anything, we have to expect considerable changes in our climate."
The United Nations is holding a major meeting on climate change in
December on the Indonesian island of Bali. Backers want delegates to
agree to launch talks on a new climate pact to replace the Kyoto
Protocol, which runs out in 2012.
Negotiators are aiming to hammer out the new pact by 2009, and Japan
plays a crucial role since it is hosting the next G8 summit in
Hokkaido in 2008.
Merkel pointed out that targets included in the Kyoto Protocol had not
been reached. The European Union has only achieved a 1.9 percent cut
so far compared to a targeted 8 percent reduction, she said. Emissions
have increased in Japan, which had pledged to cut them by 6 percent.
About 1,000 delegates from 158 nations are currently meeting in Vienna
to discuss global warming.
--
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to
escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
31 Aug 2007 09:54:50 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Claudia Kade
KYOTO, Japan, Aug 31 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said
she wanted to offer developing countries a compromise climate change
pact based on population size, but warned on Friday that negotiations
will be tough.
Merkel, who helped draw up the Kyoto Protocol on climate change as
Germany's environment minister in 1997, made global warming and talks
over a deal to succeed the protocol the focus of her three-day visit
to Japan.
"The question is: at what point can we involve developing countries,
and what kind of measure do we use to create a just world?" Merkel
said in Kyoto, the ancient Japanese capital where the 1997 protocol
was agreed.
Merkel suggested that developing countries should be allowed to
increase their emissions per capita while industrialised national cut
theirs, until both sides reach the same level.
She brought up the proposal when she met officials in China before
travelling to Japan, but the Chinese were sceptical, according to the
German delegation.
"Once (developing countries) reach the level of industrialised
countries, the reduction begins," Merkel said.
A similar idea was fielded by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
during the G8 summit with major developing countries in Germany in
June.
Under the Kyoto pact, 35 developed nations are obliged to cut
emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012.
Developing nations, many of which have signed the protocol, are not
obliged to make any reductions during the pact's first phase -- a
concession that saw the United States and Australia pull out of the
pact.
Both nations, among the world's top per-capita polluters, say it's
unfair that big developing nations such as China, India and Indonesia,
are excluded and view the pact as bad for their economies.
DIFFICULT ROAD AHEAD
Many developing countries, in turn, are worried that strict
environmental regulations will hamper economic growth. They demand
industrialised nations, as chief polluters, bear the brunt of emission
cuts.
In turn, wealthy nations with relatively small populations and large
industries fear a per-capita target could hurt them.
Currently, per-capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are far higher in
rich economies than in their poorer counterparts.
The United States produces about 20 tonnes of CO2 a year per capita,
Germany 11 tonnes and the European Union an average of 9 tonnes,
according to the German government.
China, on the other hand, churns out only 3.5 tonnes a year per head.
The global average is 4.2 tonnes.
Merkel repeated the aim was to halve global CO2 emissions by 2050.
"That's a very big goal, but it's the consensus among experts. If we
can't reach that, we'll pay for it dearly," she said. "If we don't do
anything, we have to expect considerable changes in our climate."
The United Nations is holding a major meeting on climate change in
December on the Indonesian island of Bali. Backers want delegates to
agree to launch talks on a new climate pact to replace the Kyoto
Protocol, which runs out in 2012.
Negotiators are aiming to hammer out the new pact by 2009, and Japan
plays a crucial role since it is hosting the next G8 summit in
Hokkaido in 2008.
Merkel pointed out that targets included in the Kyoto Protocol had not
been reached. The European Union has only achieved a 1.9 percent cut
so far compared to a targeted 8 percent reduction, she said. Emissions
have increased in Japan, which had pledged to cut them by 6 percent.
About 1,000 delegates from 158 nations are currently meeting in Vienna
to discuss global warming.
--
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to
escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
