Primary Sources:Retrospective Eye-Witness Assessment:
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC
- COP-6, Official Site
- Earth Negotiations Bulletin IISD Canada, Conference Coverage, including archive of daily reports.
- Climate Ark - Climate News from around the world.
- OneWorld.Org - Campaign: Climate Change - Views from Britain and the Third World.
Climate talks end in failure.
Saturday, 25 November, 2000, 15:40 GMT.
By BBC News Online's environment correspondent Alex Kirby in The Hague.
Two weeks of negotiations on tackling climate change have collapsed without agreement. "I am very disappointed, said conference chairman and Dutch environment minister Jan Pronk. "We have not lived up to the expectations of the outside world."Effort to rescue climate deal fails .
BBC, Friday, 8 December, 2000, 01:41 GMT.
Senior officials from the United States, the European Union and other key countries have failed in their attempt to salvage something from the abortive climate change summit in November in The Hague. The ministers have returned home after a hastily arranged two days of talks in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, in which they had hoped to find enough common ground to reach a deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.Commentaries:
News Reports:
- "Carbon Colonialism" Center for Science and the Environment, India.
Cheap Fix: The rush to make profits out of carbon-fixing engenders another kind of colonialism- Archive of Papers on Climate Equity.
- Series of Commentaries on Climate Issue from CSE in India.
Selected Daily Survey of Reporting from UN Wire Archives:
U.N. Wire
Excerpts of Climate Negotiations Reports
November - December 2000Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri 13 November 14 November 15 November 16 November 17 November 20 November 21 November 22 November [no report] [no report] 27 November 28 November 29 November 30 November 1 December 4 December 5 December 
CLIMATE CHANGE: Major Summit Takes Place In The Hague [Excerpts from UN Wire, 14 November 2000]
More than 20,000 representatives from 180 countries are expected to attend the two-week UN climate change summit, which opens today in The Hague. The summit has been billed as the make-or-break battle in the war against global warming, the Toronto National Post reports (Carl Honore, 10 Nov).
The climate change negotiations "must succeed" to pave the way for ratification of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which sets targets and timetables for emissions reductions by industrialized countries, Michael Zammit Cutajar, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said last month.
No industrialized country has ratified the protocol because each is waiting for the outcome of the conference, which is the deadline for hammering out the details of protocol implementation, Cutajar said.
"There is a big political investment" in meeting the deadline, the culmination of three years of negotiations since the protocol was adopted, he said (UN Newservice, 1 Nov).
Many environmental groups also see the summit as a pivotal moment in the global warming debate. "This summit is the last chance to save the Kyoto Protocol," said Roda Verheyen, a London-based campaigner for Friends of the Earth (Honore, Toronto National Post).
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the international community to "make every effort to bring the Kyoto Protocol into force by 2002."
"The task before us is enormous," he said in a videotaped address, adding that combating climate change requires "radical change in the ways our economies (are running) and in the way we all live" (Agence France-Presse, 13 Nov).
The talks are to be held through 24 November and closely follow findings by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change showing greenhouse gas emissions have substantially contributed to observed "warming" during the last 50 years. The IPCC warned that if emissions are not lowered, temperatures could climb 50% higher than predicted in the previous 1995 assessment.
Cutajar said the talks' success hinges on whether major industrialized countries believe they can get the Kyoto Protocol ratified by their legislatures, and whether developing countries are satisfied with the discussions (UN Newservice).
The Debate Over Suspected "Loopholes"
The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) last week said the Kyoto Protocol might not prove effective at all, however, unless governments agree to eliminate potential loopholes in the document.
The organization told a news briefing that instead of reducing industry's greenhouse gas emissions, it could have the reverse effect of boosting environmentally less desirable industries.
"Fossil fuel burning lies at the heart of the Kyoto Protocol, but there are a range of loopholes that will allow individual countries to meet their targets without reducing their emissions," said Liam Salter of the WWF (Reuters/PlanetArk, 10 Nov).
Reuters reports that while there is general agreement on methods to reduce emissions, such as emissions trading, clean technology transfer and reforestation, working out the details has been a formidable task.
"The most important question is will we be able to decide on instruments in such a way that the environmental integrity is maintained," said Dutch Environmental Minister Jan Pronk, the conference chair (Reuters/CNN.com, 9 Nov).
Cutajar said he hopes to complete enough of the treaty to allow major powers to begin ratification. The protocol, which requires industrial countries to meet target levels between 2008 and 2012 won't enter into force until countries contributing at least 55% of the developed world's emissions sign it.
Cutajar said the treaty could come into force if the European Union, Russia, Japan and Canada ratify it, but he admitted that it "wouldn't be politically feasible for long" if the United States does not follow suit (John Fialka, Wall Street Journal, 13 Nov).
Obstacles At The Summit
Government representatives will be largely outnumbered by environmentalists, oil lobbyists, automobile manufacturers and other interest groups trying to influence the debate (Reuters/CNN.com).
Pronk said that a major challenge facing the summit "is making it possible to ratify Kyoto, committing ourselves to such assistance to developing countries that, in the long run, they can also engage themselves" (Jack Freeman, Earth Times, 6 Nov).
Meanwhile, UN Environment Program Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said last week that the summit must examine ways to help African countries deal with climate change. While African countries fuel global warming the least, they will feel its impacts the most, he said.
"We are already in a time of climate change," he said. "It is not a prognosis for the future. The poorest countries, especially in Africa, will be the real victims" (Reuters/PlanetArk II, 10 Nov).
Pronk emphasized the summit should attempt to bridge gaps between participants. "What is necessary is that we keep the whole group together, and that there will not be a rift between the North and the South or between, for instance, the European Union and the other northern countries fighting each other," he said (Freeman, Earth Times).
Showdown Likely Between US And Europe
For now, however, it appears that the United States and the European Union are on opposite sides of one of the most contentious issues to be discussed at the summit -- use of "carbon sinks," forests and pastures which remove carbon from the air, to reduce emissions.
The United States is pushing for the protocol to include language favorable to a sink credit system, and Japan seems to be taking a similar stance. The European Union, however, has limited land available for reforestation and is lobbying for these credits to have a lower value in an emissions trading system, Cutajar said (Jason Topping Cone, Earth Times, 1 Nov).
The EU complains that the United States -- which produces 24% of global greenhouse gas production -- is trying to avoid tough measures to cut its output of these gases. The EU wants the United States to take tougher action to reduce pollution levels rather than create loopholes in the protocol that would allow it to fulfill its obligations with little actual action. The EU position is strongly backed by US environmental groups (William Drozdiak, Washington Post, 12 Nov).
Meanwhile, US President Bill Clinton said in an address broadcast over the Internet that the threat of global warming is "one of the greatest challenges we face," and he announced a new approach to reducing air pollution from US power plants so that greenhouse gas emissions are adequately cut.
Clinton also said a recent US Global Change Research Program report "provides the most detailed assessment ever of the potential impacts of global warming across the United States," adding that it illustrates "a sobering picture of the future" (Alex Kirby, BBC Online, 11 Nov).
British Environment Minister Michael Meacher has said in advance of the summit that developed countries may have to cut pollution by as much as 70% (Alex Kirby, BBC Online II, 11 Nov). Meacher also has urged the United States to do its part at the summit to ensure that it takes a strong role in combating global warming.
"The important thing is that the US has 4% of the world's population and accounts for 25% of global gas emissions and 36% of emissions from the industrialized world," he said. "That's why it's so important that they concentrate on the domestic economy -- that is the cause of climate change."
Meacher added, "Unless all countries play according to the rules and take action, all of us are going to suffer as we have seen in the last three years with floods, tornadoes and inextinguishable forest fires" (London Guardian, 13 Nov).CLIMATE CHANGE: Hague Conference Success Hinges On Kyoto Progress [Excerpts from UN Wire, 15 November 2000]
This week's climate change summit in The Hague will be a success if developing countries believe they are supported in addressing climate change and if developed countries publicly acknowledge that the meeting's results make the Kyoto Protocol "ratifiable," UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Michael Zammit Cutajar told the meeting's opening yesterday.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told participants they would have to draw up a rulebook of measures industrialized countries must pursue "since at present they produce the most emissions."
He added that the meeting would have to forge a new path of development, saying that "measures to reduce global warming in industrialized countries will be in vain if, meanwhile, developing countries are following the same wasteful and noxious pattern of industrialization" (UN Newservice, 13 Nov).
Island nations yesterday made a plea to industrialized countries to accept a moral duty to cut greenhouse gas emissions, saying that smaller, poorer countries are facing financial and environmental ruin because of wealthier powers' excesses.
"We are now suffering and expect to suffer in the most direct way the full range of climate impacts -- increased cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons and coral bleaching among them," said Samoa's UN ambassador Tuiloma Neroni Slade, also chair of the 43-country Alliance of Small Island States. Slade reiterated that industrialized countries must implement the targets they accepted under the protocol (Reuters/PlanetArk, 14 Nov).
Delegates at the 13 -24 November conference are not expected to reach conclusions before next week, and in the last few days of the conference will hold closed-door discussions to finalize their decisions.
Success Depends On US Attitude
Crispin Tickell, the former UK ambassador to the UN, said the conference's success or failure depends on the US attitude. "We have a real problem in so far as the biggest industrial country in the world has not even submitted the agreement to Congress," he said (BBC Online, 13 Nov).
On the eve of the conference, US Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska called the Kyoto Protocol "unworkable," "outrageous," and "arbitrary," during an interview and said the new, divided Senate would not come close to ratifying it (Tech Central Station, 13 Nov).
Meanwhile, environmental groups continued to accuse the United States yesterday of seeking loopholes to avoid making actual pollution cuts (Arthur Max, Associated Press/Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 Nov). Similar arguments have been put forth by the European Union, which wants the United States to take tougher action to reduce pollution levels (UN Wire, 13 Nov).
Under the banner "Work It Out," some 6,000 officials, scientists, environmentalists and business executives attended the conference opening yesterday, and that number is expected to grow to 10,000 next week (Max, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer).
The Potential For Agreement
So far, there are no assurances the thousands of delegates expected at the two-week summit will overcome their national differences on how to comply with the international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to less than their levels a decade ago.
Delegates put governments on notice yesterday, though, that time is running out for action. "During the last three years, many parts of the world have suffered heat waves, floods, droughts, fires and extreme weather events leading to significant economic losses and loss of life," said Robert Watson, chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Olivia Ward, Toronto Star, 14 Nov).
The chances of actually meeting greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets are slim, however, since the amount of greenhouse gases continues to rise. Michel Raquet, a Greenpeace climate control expert, says that if present trends continue, industrialized world pollution will be 40% higher in 2010 than it was in 1990.
Raquet says it is crucial for the European Commission to come up with a clear plan of action to meet the Kyoto commitments, adding that the plan should be in place within the next year or two (Breffni O'Rourke, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 13 Nov).
UNEP Lists Possible Strategy Components
Meanwhile, the UN Environment Program believes a climate change strategy should include a final agreement in The Hague meeting minimum requirements of all nations, so the protocol can be ratified by 2002 and developed countries reach their targets by 2012; international economic instruments helping to cut global emissions at the lowest possible cost, which also ensure the protocol's credibility; market-based instruments at the national level; efforts to engage business; a commitment to engaging developing countries; early actions to adapt to climate change; and a reliance on win-win policies and synergies (UNEP release, 13 Nov).
Climate Justice Summit Parallels Conference
The US group Corporate Watch, in cooperation with European, African, Asian and Latin American organizations, is organizing a two-day Climate Justice Summit to coincide with the climate change conference, starting Sunday.
Corporate Watch says that though the effects of climate change have had some of the greatest effects on the South and Northern "disenfranchised communities," government representatives at the summit have not considered how emissions trading, joint implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism could harm these areas even more.
The Climate Justice Summit is intended to call on the governments to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable and negotiate for real and just solutions, according to the group (Corporate Watch release, 13 Nov. (see also Climate Justice).CLIMATE CHANGE: Countries Lean Toward Compromise At Summit [Excerpts from UN Wire, 16 November 2000]
Delegates to the UN climate change summit at The Hague say there appeared to be some movement yesterday toward compromise between European countries and the United States, which were divided coming into the conference, on strategies to prevent climate change, the Earth Times reports.
"We are making real progress," said one European delegate. "The Americans are taking a more realistic position. They know we have to get something done."
A major European-US point of conflict has been use of carbon "sinks" from reforestation projects to reduce greenhouse gases to meet Kyoto Protocol targets. The United States believes countries should get credit for forest-planting projects, but the European Union says reforestation only provides temporary greenhouse gas reductions and that carbon sinks should not be used as a emissions reduction loophole.
The United States said yesterday, however, that it would accept a phase-in of carbon sink credits available to industrial countries, a proposal it hoped the EU would find more agreeable.
US Assistant Secretary of State David Sandalow, who heads the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, said the United States has been flexible on the issues in order to reach consensus. "In order for us to reach a deal here at The Hague, parties are going to have to show flexibility on a number of issues," he said.
Some agreement was also reached on language for the Kyoto agreement final document, changing or adding technical language and eliminating bracketed sections of text, which haven't been approved yet. "We made very good progress," said meeting secretary Mohammed Reza Salamat of Iran. "We were all very encouraged. If we can continue with this type of start, this could have impact on other issues" (Dillon/Sullivan, Earth Times, 15 Nov).
The Dublin Irish Times reports, however, that EU-US disputes worsened yesterday, with neither side appearing ready for compromise. "So far I haven't seen anyone move their position by one centimeter," said Raul Estrada, Argentina's special representative for the environment (Reuters/Dublin Irish Times, 15 Nov).
The United States and EU still have other issues to resolve before consensus is achieved. While the EU wants industrialized countries to reform their transportation and energy policies to cut pollution, the United States says it wants maximum flexibility to trade in pollution and buy cheap emission reductions from other countries that do not need them.
"These mechanisms will promote innovation and reduce costs," Sandalow said. "We don't have the luxury of wasting dollars, euros and yen on fighting against climate change" (Reuters/CNN.com, 14 Nov).
Russia, Netherlands Take Action Early
Meanwhile, Russia says it cannot wait to start reducing its production of greenhouse gases. The government and businesses are already interested in meeting Russia's Kyoto Protocol targets through increased efficiency and early action, including almost immediate emissions trading.
"If we save now, we can have more effect than if we start in 10 years," according to Oleg Ploujnikov of Russia's Energy Ministry.
To support its endeavor, Russia needs decisive action at the climate change summit so other countries will have the confidence to invest in its projects. Russian representatives believe that if the country can reduce its emissions through energy-saving measures it should be able to freely trade emissions while maintaining environmental integrity (Malini Goel, Earth Times, 15 Nov).
The Netherlands, which has little chance of meeting its protocol targets by reducing greenhouse gas emissions at home, is also already buying emissions credits abroad, though an official emissions credits market doesn't exist yet.
"The government decided in 1998 that the Netherlands will meet 50% of its emissions reductions at home and 50% using the [Kyoto Protocol] mechanisms," Maurits Henkemans, manager of the Dutch Joint Implementation program and a delegate at the conference, said.
The Netherlands began soliciting project proposals from businesses this year that could lead to nearly $20 million in credit buys in April. An additional $150 million has been set aside for deals during the next two years, Henkemans said. He said that most of the deals assumed a price of $5 to $10 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions, although the prices were set in Dutch guilders when the dollar was weaker.
"We are taking a risk," Henkemans said. "If the protocol is not ratified, then we have a problem. But the government wanted to start" (Ron Feemster, Earth Times, 15 Nov).
Canadian Arctic Shows Tangible Effects Of Climate Change
A study this week by the International Institute for Sustainable Development in Winnipeg, Manitoba, reveals that electric storms in the upper Arctic are one effect of the region's climate change. Thunder and lightning have previously never occurred there (Washington Times, 15 Nov).
A video of the dramatic damage done to the environment in Sachs Harbour, a fishing village on Banks Island in Canada's western Arctic, will be shown tomorrow at the climate change summit. The video, which took 18 months to produce, also catalogues a loss of permafrost, warmer temperatures and distinct changes in flora and fauna.
"It's the real first hard evidence of people feeling the impacts of climate change," said Rosemarie Kuptana, past president of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, who also grew up in Sachs Harbour (Alanna Mitchell, Toronto Globe and Mail, 15 Nov).
Special Advertisement
A special four-page advertisement supplement by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change appeared in the Washington Post today to coincide with this week's conference.
The supplement includes commentaries by British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, Pew Center President Eileen Claussen, the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Change Campaign Director Jennifer Morgan, World Resources Institute Senior Associate Crescencia Maurer, Climate Network Africa Executive Director Grace Akumu, World Business Council for Sustainable Development's Manager of Climate and Energy Dave Moorcroft and International Chamber of Commerce Vice President Richard McCormick. A memo from Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk, who is chairing the conference, also appears (Washington Post, 15 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: EU Unexpectedly Warms To US Proposal [Excerpts from UN Wire, 17 November 2000]
At the climate change summit at The Hague yesterday, the European Union unexpectedly welcomed a controversial US proposal to count forests as carbon "sinks" that absorb greenhouse gases, Reuters reports.
The 15-member European Union had previously been hostile to the plan, seeing it as an easy way out for the United States that could undermine the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which specifies emissions reduction targets for industrialized countries.
But Jos Delbeke, chief negotiator for the EU's executive commission, spoke supportively of the proposal. "The proposal by the United States is definitely going in the right direction," he said. "It's about additional efforts that we are going to make to stimulate carbon uptake from the atmosphere."
Using carbon "sinks" would allow the United States to count the carbon dioxide absorbed by trees to offset part of its commitment to reduce emissions of the gas. Greenhouse gases are blamed for contributing to global warming (Reuters/CNN.com, 15 Nov).
The US proposal would phase in the carbon credit allowed from forests and pastureland, though the amount of the credits and when they would be taken have not yet been specified. The plan is a departure from an August plan that would have allowed the United States to meet as much as 50% of its Kyoto emissions reductions through existing forest management practices (John Dillon, Earth Times, 16 Nov).
Delbeke said the EU would only go along with the sinks proposal if the measure was found to take in more carbon that would otherwise have been absorbed. He also said the EU is still skeptical about many elements of the plan, such as how much carbon would actually be absorbed by the sinks.
Delbeke said the US plan states that only new forests planted in the last decade would qualify for emissions reduction credits. He said the plan could stimulate an actual reduction in greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.
Why The Sudden Turnabout?
Reuters reports that European countries' willingness to meet the United States halfway may be inspired by political practicality to achieve an agreement on climate change measures that would be meaningless without US participation.
Washington says that using forest sinks in future carbon-reducing efforts is crucial to getting the US Congress to ratify the agreement. "This proposal will help us become a party to the Kyoto Protocol," said US Assistant Secretary of State David Sandalow, who heads the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (Reuters/CNN.com).
Japan and Canada have expressed similar interest in using carbon sinks to meet Kyoto targets (Dillon, Earth Times). Environmentalists, however, slammed the US proposal.
"They want this as a big 'get out of jail free card,'" said Kert Davies of Greenpeace. "It is basically an entitlement to burn more fuel, because every ton of carbon they claim is saved in a sink is another ton they can emit" (Robin Pomeroy, Reuters/Boston Globe, 16 Nov)
US Study Says Emissions Could Be Cheaply Cut
A new study released yesterday by five US Energy Department laboratories said the cost and difficulty of combating global warming might be much less than predicted. It is the most comprehensive assessment yet on how the United States could use policy changes and technology to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The study says that a proper mix of research, incentives and governmental guidelines could curb global warming without cost to consumers, possibly even achieving economic benefits in the long run.
Critics, however, have charged that meeting the Kyoto Protocol's targets could devastate the US economy (Traci Watson, USA Today, 16 Nov). A Washington Times editorial today argues that meeting the terms of the protocol would require "radical throttling-back of economic activity, with the concomitant diminishment of US productivity" (16 Nov).
But the report says there is less at stake than previous studies have shown. "There are no real heroic efforts here," said Marilyn Brown of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, one of the leaders of the study (Traci Watson, USA Today, 16 Nov).
One key recommendation revealed in Strategies for a Clean Energy Future is to implement a "tax" on industries and electric utilities equal to $50 for each ton of carbon discharged into the atmosphere, a measure which could reduce by more than 70% the projected carbon dioxide emissions from 1990 to 2010.
Brown said the measure would add 12.5 cents to the price per gallon of gasoline, and similar increases in the cost of electricity (Peter Behr, Washington Post, 16 Nov).
Brown will be presenting the report at the climate change summit. "We found that so much could be done domestically at such a low cost," she said (Elizabeth Crowley, Wall Street Journal, 16 Nov).
Technology Transfer Important In Debate
Another new report introduced this week during the summit says that official development assistance is important for the transfer of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries. The report was written by scientists belonging to a technology transfer working group of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Official development assistance "is still important for those parts of the world and sectors where private sector flows are comparatively low, like agriculture, forestry, human health and coastal ozone management," the report said. In addition, the report said, it can support creation of conditions that may move more money into environmentally sound technologies.
The report also says technology transfer for adaptation to climate change is needed to protect developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change (Jaya Ramachandran, Inter Press Service/TerraViva, 16 Nov).
Indigenous Peoples At Risk
A panel representing 28 indigenous peoples and local communities yesterday testified at the summit on the impacts of climate change on fragile ecosystems where they live, and urged governments to expeditiously ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
The Indigenous People's Caucus voiced its opposition to emissions trading and the use of carbon sinks out of fear that it could pave the way for additional encroachment on indigenous territory.
"We're spending 90% of our time trying to evade reductions in emissions and we've created a whole misinformed agenda propelled by industrialized countries," said Clarke Peteru of Indigenous People's Biodiversity Network in Samoa (Jennifer Morrow, Earth Times, 16 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: Countries Wrangle Over Carbon Sinks [Excerpts from UN Wire, 20 November 2000]
US and European Union representatives were moving slowly toward an agreement last night on several contentious issues at the two-week United Nations global climate change summit at The Hague.
Despite reports the United States had made minor concessions over forests and nuclear power, it had not made compromises that would force it to cut domestic greenhouse gas emissions (London Guardian, 17 Nov).
Jos Delbeke, president of the climate change section of the European Commission, charged the US proposal lacked clear details. "It is minimal compared to what we thought it would be," he said (Dillon/Sullivan, Earth Times, 17 Nov).
The United Kingdom is expected to make its own proposal to limit greenhouse gases today. "We are setting out a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the UK by 23% below 1990 levels," said Environment Minister Michael Meacher. "That is more than 10% beyond our Kyoto targets" (Reuters/ABCNews.com, 17 Nov).
Japan supported a US plan to use forest "carbon sinks" that soak up greenhouse gas emissions. Japan hopes to use these sinks to reduce its emissions by 3.7% out of the 6% reduction it has agreed to (Tokyo Yomiuri Shimbun, 17 Nov).
Environmentalists Respond To Negotiations
Some environmentalists criticized the US plan yesterday, claiming it is a cynical scheme to transform forests into carbon sinks that effectively transfer the problem of global warming to developing countries (Baltimore Sun, 17 Nov). Other environmental action groups, such as Union of Concerned Scientists, Nature Conservancy and Environmental Defense Fund, all came out in support of carbon sinks yesterday (Feemster, Earth Times, 17 Nov). Activists worry major reductions in greenhouse gases will not occur because the EU is so desperate for agreement at The Hague that it will give in to US demands for carbon sinks.
Concern Over Hague Summit's Ability To Resolve Kyoto Problems
Pessimism has grown that the Hague summit will be unable to resolve problems with the 1990 Kyoto climate change treaty that governs the international efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. The London Guardian predicted that even the "woefully inadequate" Kyoto stipulations of 5.5% reductions in greenhouse gases "are unlikely to be achieved" (London Guardian II, 17 Nov).
Another source of concern at the summit is that negotiators may get bogged down in the details of hashing out a treaty that sets clear guidelines for future action. "It is crucial that something come out ... because there are already voices saying that perhaps the Kyoto Protocol is not implementable," said Rajendra Pachauri, director of the Tata Energy Research Institute (Vir Singh, Earth Times, 17 Nov).
One factor that may be delaying summit consensus is tension between developing and developed countries. Even as some countries in the developed world construct a system to trade emissions credits, some developing countries are pressing for a mechanism that allots emissions based on "equity." Some environmental activists said an emissions trading system would be an inequitable market based on trading a good -- atmosphere -- that no single group or country owns (Shalini Mundhra-Rathi, Earth Times, 17 Nov).
Research Points To Benefits Of Reducing Greenhouse Gases
Research conducted for the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development has shown that reduction of greenhouse gases would have broad benefits, beyond simply reducing global warming. The study said pollution-induced lung diseases could be alleviated by a reduction in greenhouse gases. Cutbacks in fossil fuel consumption should take precedence over carbon sink use in reducing greenhouse gases, the report said (John Dillon, Earth Times, 17 Nov).
Another study, published today in the journal Science, questioned the effectiveness of forests to act as carbon sinks. The study found that the ability of forests to absorb carbon dioxide can change over a decade, raising the possibility the five-year time frames established by the Kyoto Protocol are too short to gauge the true value of carbon sinks.
A third study found that although forests absorb carbon from the atmosphere, the dark-colored masses of foliage may actually contribute to global warming by absorbing more sunlight (Peter Spotts, Christian Science Monitor, 17 Nov).
An EU-funded report found that average temperatures will start rising by as much as 0.4 degrees Centigrade per decade in Europe around 2020. Although this warming will transform evergreen forests into broad-leaf groves near the Arctic Circle, the warming will also bring with it new pests and diseases, said Tim Carter, one of the scientists contributing to the report (Breffni O'Rourke, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 16 Nov).
A Los Angeles Times editorial today praised a US plan to create short-term incentives for encouraging long-term environmentally sound behavior. "Helping developing nations build energy-efficient factories and protecting the Amazon and Orinoco basins in South America, known as 'the lungs of the planet,' from slash-and-burn logging would genuinely and significantly reduce global warming," the commentary said (Los Angeles Times, 17 Nov).
Delegates Spurn Environmentally Friendly Transportation
As of yesterday, only six of the 2,000 delegates to the Hague summit had made use of the 200 free bikes offered to them by the city (London Independent, 17 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: Talks Could Fail, Conference Chair Warns [ Excerpts from UN Wire, 21 November 2000]
As key international leaders began arriving yesterday to continue discussions at the climate change summit at The Hague, Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk warned that the talks among attending countries could fail.
Pronk, who is presiding over the conference, said he was frustrated at the slow pace of the discussions and said the divide among many of the powers remained vast. He said that success continues to hinge on the willingness of the countries to compromise.
"The list of what has been achieved so far is not long," Pronk told reporters. "The task ahead of us is much bigger and very difficult. I am frustrated with the pace of the talks over the last three years. The pace this last week was a bit quicker. But if we go on at this same pace, we will still be talking in 2008" (Alex Kirby, BBC Online, 20 Nov).
Some 2,000 lower-level officials spent last week trying to lay the groundwork for the final negotiations this week by environment ministers and other senior officials from more than 150 countries, but stark disagreements remain over how to protect the environment. US officials said yesterday that their attempts to be flexible and meet governments halfway were not reciprocated by their European counterparts (Anthony Deutch, Associated Press/Philadelphia Inquirer, 20 Nov).
The European Union today, however, issued an ultimatum to the United States and accused Washington of being the largest single contributor to global warming. French President Jacques Chirac criticized its record of lavish fossil fuel consumption and warned that action was urgently needed "before we reach the point of no return" and climate change has wreaked havoc on the legacy of future generations.
"I call upon the United States of America, therefore, to cast aside their doubts and hesitations," he said. "The time has come for them to join with the other leading industrialized nations to work together in making a successful transition to an energy-efficient, yet no less thriving, economy" (Agence France-Presse, 20 Nov).
EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom also cited the significance of keeping the United States on board. "It would be absurd if the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases would not ratify the Kyoto Protocol," she said today.
Remaining Obstacles
International leaders will spend this week focusing on the toughest aspects of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to global warming. The EU maintains that the United States is shirking its responsibilities to make emissions cuts and looking for "free gifts" to avoid politically difficult policies in the sectors of energy, transport, industry and agriculture (CNN.com, 20 Nov).
Pronk said that a "huge distance" still remains between the Europeans and the United States. British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott criticized the US proposal to use growing trees and crops toward at least half its contribution to reduce emissions as one of the "stumbling blocks" (Charles Clover, London Telegraph, 20 Nov).
The US proposals to use forests as carbon "sinks" would allow the United States to count the carbon dioxide absorbed by trees to offset some of its commitment to reduce emissions of the gas, and has been the target of a great deal of controversy at the summit (UN Wire, 16 Nov).
Critics have called the US demands a "con trick" that will not have any effect on the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Prescott said yesterday that the United States appeared to be trying to squeeze every concession possible out of the Kyoto Protocol. "They are throwing in everything but the kitchen sink," he said (Nick Nuttall, London Times, 20 Nov).
Another item of controversy is the amount of emissions cuts the United States can obtain from other countries. The United States wants complete freedom over how to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 2010, including no limit on how many cuts it can purchase from other countries.
But the rest of the world, including developing countries, insists that there must be a limit, and advocates that the United States only be able to buy 50% of its cuts. The countries also want the United States to take more concrete, substantive measures to make emissions cuts (Michael McCarthy, London Independent, 20 Nov).
Another unresolved issue is how countries will enforce the Kyoto Protocol. The European Union and some developing countries advocate fines for carbon emissions above the treaty targets, funds which would then be put back into environmentally friendly endeavors. One figure suggested was approximately $42 a ton, which could potentially cost the United States billions of dollars.
However, Prescott said yesterday there was still time to eliminate the stalemate. "There are difficult areas and all sorts of stumbling blocks, but I do not think it is impossible. This is still Sunday, not Wednesday or Thursday. ... We all must find agreement, we will be unforgiven if we have not found agreement by the end of the week" (Paul Brown, London Guardian, 20 Nov).
One positive sign in the negotiations came over the weekend, when US negotiators suggested that the United States would be willing to limit its use of forests to reach its emissions targets. The move came in the face of mounting criticism from environmental groups and the EU (Andrew Revkin, New York Times, 20 Nov).
Demonstrators Protest At The Hague
Meanwhile, over the weekend, thousands of demonstrators outside the summit site pounded drums and constructed a mock dike out of sandbags to symbolize the threatened flooding from global warming. At one point, Pronk drew the support of the crowd by adding a few sandbags himself to the barrier.
"We cannot build a dike with words alone," Pronk told the demonstrators. "We need to build it with action that is based on words which we are agreed upon." Pronk was referring to the agreement expected at the conclusion of the conference on Friday (AP/Washington Post, 19 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: US Makes Concession On Carbon "Sinks"; More [ Excerpts from UN Wire, 22 November 2000]
The United States yesterday offered a concession to help reach agreement on ways of implementing the Kyoto Protocol during the climate change summit at The Hague. Criticized for relying too heavily on carbon "sinks" to absorb greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in its proposals, the United States offered to reduce its reliance on sinks by two-thirds (BBC Online, 21 Nov).
The United States had originally put forth a proposal saying it should get credit for 310 million tons of carbon dioxide absorbed by forests, but through a new complex formula it says it would claim credit for only 125 million tons (Ray Moseley, Chicago Tribune, 21 Nov).
The US action was welcomed by British Environment Minister Michael Meacher, although he said the proposal would have to be considered "very carefully." Climate campaigner Roda Verheyen of Friends of the Earth, however, said the United States would still only reach half the targets on reducing emissions set by the Kyoto Protocol.
"This would make a complete farce of the Kyoto agreement and should be rejected by other parties at the summit out of hand," Verheyen said (BBC Online).
US Lawmakers Denounce Chirac
Meanwhile, US lawmakers attending the summit angrily responded yesterday to criticism from French President Jacques Chirac that the United States was attempting to shirk its responsibilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. US Senator Larry Craig of Idaho called Chirac's comments "unproductive."
"I don't believe President Chirac's statement was particularly helpful for the success of this conference," said US Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. "To single out the United States, as he did rather directly, does not facilitate a cooperative spirit" (Reuters/CNN.com, 20 Nov).
Both Republican senators said they acknowledge that climate change is a serious problem, but added they did not expect an agreement from the summit that they would be able to recommend to Republican US presidential candidate George W. Bush if he becomes the next president (Alex Kirby, BBC Online, 20 Nov).
UNEP Offers Recommendations For Success
UN Environment Program Executive Director Klaus Toepfer yesterday urged ministers at the summit to take positive action to protect the environment, outlining three components that should emerge from the negotiations this week.
Toepfer said that rules on meeting the Kyoto Protocol "must be clarified," and he encouraged delegates to provide a strong signal to the market. "We need the creative forces of entrepreneurism to accelerate us toward a climate-friendly future."
Toepfer also called for a generosity of spirit. "All countries must be given the opportunity to enter the path of clean development and to adapt to the shocks that climate change will bring," he said (UNEP release, 21 Nov).
Keep Or Scrap The Kyoto Protocol?
Joseph DiMento, a University of California at Irvine international environmental law professor and unofficial observer at the summit, writes in a Los Angeles Times commentary today that there is real concern about whether the framework of the Kyoto Protocol should be "scuttled."
"There is a sense that the problem is now more serious than it was when the international agreement on climate change was patched together in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, while the positions of the negotiators have remained the same -- or even hardened," he writes. He adds that negotiators seem to be "going through the motions" at the summit, with plans to rely on "platitudes" and schedule more meetings in the future.
DiMento suggests that the United States could, however, take a proper leadership stance and keep the Kyoto Protocol "alive to promote international cooperation for environmental protection."
Barring that, DiMento writes, the alternative may be to start anew, scrapping much of what has been achieved so far in previous meetings. "A new model might be better when finished than a salvaged Kyoto protocol, but while it is being fashioned, average temperatures will continue to rise, and with that will come more floods, droughts, cyclones and other extreme weather events" (Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov).
Opportunities For Kazakhstan
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan is interested in working with industrialized nations striving to meet emissions quotas, a project that could also turn a healthy profit for Kazakhstan, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, the greenhouse gases no longer produced by abandoned industrial plants in the former Soviet state could be sold to companies trying to meet emissions quotas. Kazakhstan could earn more than $800 million annually if it is awarded a quota (Steve LeVine, Wall Street Journal, 21 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: Summit Issues Remain Unresolved [ Excerpts from UN Wire, 27 November 2000]
Major issues, including rules and means for the application of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, are still unresolved with only three days left before the UN-sponsored climate change talks are to end at The Hague (Arthur Max, Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 Nov). Jan Pronk, Dutch environment minister and president of the conference, said the chance of a successful outcome from the summit is no higher than 50% (BBC online, 21 Nov).
A US proposal to limit its use of forests as carbon "sinks," which the United States termed a concession Monday, was flatly rejected by the European Union yesterday. The EU claimed the proposal had not gone far enough and had left open the possibility that some countries could meet their obligations under the Kyoto agreement without reducing their emissions (Chicago Tribune/Dallas Morning News, 22 Nov).
Even as proposals for carbon sinks came under attack, so did suggestions by the nuclear power industry that nuclear energy be used to reduce emissions. UN Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director Klaus Toepfer strongly criticized that plan, which environmentalists have said presents long-term problems of nuclear waste and safety. "I'm utterly convinced that it should not be included in an type of (agreement)," he said (Reuters/PlanetArk II, 22 Nov).
Toepfer has, however, outlined three components necessary for a successful summit -- clarification of the Kyoto Protocol targets, a strong initiative for private enterprise to contribute to the "climate friendly" practices and a generosity of spirit among participating nations (UNEP release, 20 Nov).
Effects Of Continued Global Warming Predicted
The World Meteorological Organization predicted yesterday that deaths from heat waves would double over the next 20 years if nothing is done to curb global warming (Reuters/PlanetArk III, 22 Nov).
Specific Countries Make Declarations
South Korean Environment Minister Kim Myung said yesterday his country will make efforts to ratify the Kyoto Protocol by 2002. South Korea is the 10th largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world (Chang Jae-soon, Seoul Korea Herald, 22 Nov).
Meanwhile, Canada called for more assistance for the small developing countries and island states that are most affected by the negative effects of global warming (Olivia Ward, Toronto National Star, 22 Nov).
Saudi Arabia, though, criticized the ongoing negotiations over the climate control treaty, charging that its provisions for the reduction of fossil fuel combustion emissions would limit its oil exports. "We cannot accept that the industrialized countries transfer the cost of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to our countries by embracing policies and measures that would lead to reducing their imports of our fossil fuel exports," said Saudi Energy Minister Ali al-Naimi (Reuters/PlanetArk IV, 22 Nov).
Businesses Oppose Climate Change Treaty
Several US businesses expressed concern yesterday that negotiators at The Hague would ignore market-based mechanisms to halt global warming. They were worried that programs they have already begun, which are based on the assumption that carbon sinks would be allowed to reduce emissions, would not be viable under agreements resulting from the current negotiations. "If you don't have flexibility, you remove a lot of the incentives for companies to do the right thing," said Stephen Harper, manager of environmental health and safety policy for Intel Corp. (Reuters/PlanetArk V, 22 Nov).
However, environmental activists have said that lifestyle changes and conservation, rather than business options, would be the best way for developed countries to reduce their emissions.
Opinion Pieces Attack Kyoto Myths
A Washington Times editorial attacks what it saw as the myth of global warming, charging that the world is not in the midst of a calamitous climate change. The piece argues that emissions reductions would be justified if the world were undergoing such a change, but it is not. The editorial says a reduction of economic activity on the scale called for by summit would lead to one thing -- "depression" (Washington Times, 22 Nov).
Meanwhile, a Christian Science Monitor commentary by Agus Sari, a member of the Indonesian delegation to the Hague summit, challenged the "myths" that developed countries bear the brunt of reducing global warming and the developing countries will increase their emissions as they pursue economic growth. "Even without binding, quantitative commitments to emissions under the Kyoto treaty, developing countries have undertaken many initiatives that have dramatically limited their already small share of greenhouse gases," Sari argues (Christian Science Monitor, 22 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: Summit Talks Collapse, No Deal Reached [ Excerpts from UN Wire, 28 November 2000]
Negotiations at the UN climate change summit in The Hague, aimed at achieving consensus on implementing the Kyoto Protocol, collapsed Saturday after an all-night bargaining session failed to resolve points of disagreement between the European Union and the United States.
After two weeks worth of talks, participants, environmental groups and observers were stunned that no deal was reached despite being aware from the beginning of the massive task of reaching common ground on cutting industrialized nations' greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, the New York Times reports (Andrew Revkin, 26 Nov).
"I'm gutted," said British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott as he left the conference. "There isn't a deal. That's unfortunate" (Reuters/CNN.com, 25 Nov).
Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk, who chaired the conference, did not concede defeat, however. Pronk on Saturday proposed that the meeting be suspended, with the intention of pursuing another session as early as May.
US negotiator Frank Loy also agreed that the effort should continue, despite the shift to a new presidential administration in January. "We will not give up," Loy said. "The stakes are too high, the science too decisive, and our planet and our children too precious" (Revkin, New York Times).
Despite the announcement to hold more sessions next year, many observers and delegation members said the breakdown in negotiations is a death knell for the Kyoto Protocol, whose specific guidelines were supposed to be hammered out during the summit (Patrice Hill, Washington Times, 26 Nov).
The collapse of the talks appeared to hinge on consistent disagreement between the United States and Europe on the role of forests and pastureland as carbon "sinks" to absorb carbon dioxide, which could count toward a country's overall emissions reduction targets (Revkin, New York Times).
The two-week conference was scheduled to end Friday, but Pronk extended the deadline for resolution by 24 hours in the hopes of getting US and European negotiators to forge a deal. "I am very disappointed," Pronk said. "We have not lived up to the expectations of the outside world, even though we have invested a lot of time and energy in this process" (William Drozdiak, Washington Post, 26 Nov).
The Blame Game
Clinton administration officials blamed European countries for not working harder to reach an agreement. US officials felt they had made a significant concession and had proposed an agreement by 8 a.m. Saturday, only to have the deal rejected by the 15-member European caucus.
US negotiators said they then offered a more generous second offer later in the day, but said the Europeans responded by revisiting old disagreements and began "America-bashing."
"I don't understand how the EU works, other than to say it doesn't seem to work very well," said one exhausted senior US official.
Meanwhile, environmentalists said that the climate change talks managed to achieve only a cowardly ending. "This meeting will be remembered as the moment when governments abandoned the promise of global cooperation to protect planet Earth," Greenpeace said in a statement.
Some ecologists said that the European nations could have been short-sighted in their negotiations by turning down the deal, since the new US president could be Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, a tougher opponent when it comes to environmental protection.
"This is likely to have been the European nations' best opportunity to achieve a strong climate treaty, and they decided to pass it up," said Philip Clapp, president of US lobby group National Environmental Trust. "After January, they could face a Bush administration almost certain to push more bigger loopholes."
Speaking for the European Union, French Environment Minister Dominique Voynet had been forced to reject "a bad agreement, an agreement reached on the cheap" (John-Thor Dahlburg, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov).
But the United Kingdom's Prescott over the weekend attacked his European colleagues, in particular Voynet, for failing to agree to a deal on emissions that he says he had fostered with the United States. Prescott upbraided Voynet for getting "cold feet" on the deal.
Prescott also said that other European ministers lacked the political courage to move forward on the deal. "It failed in the European area," Prescott said during a BBC program. "There comes a time when politicians have to use their own guts, their own judgement."
Prescott said that Voynet was "exhausted and tired and could not understand the detail and then refused to accept it."
"That is how the deal fell," Prescott said.
In The Months Ahead
British Environment Minister Michael Meacher said that the collapse of the talks was a "reversible tragedy," adding that a deal is still possible when parties reconvene for talks "early next year" (BBC Online, 26 Nov).
Meacher said that the talks failed because "the issues were complex and we ran out of time." The next climate change conference is scheduled for May in Bonn, but for many the discussions were all about missed opportunities.
"I am extremely disappointed, this is very sad," Meacher said. "We have never been more prepared for a conference than for this one" (David Harrison, London Telegraph, 26 Nov).
While many delegates at the summit said they hoped a new negotiating round could be scheduled in the coming months, US negotiator Loy said that while the United States supports continuing talks, the process could face an interruption in part because of the new political administration coming to power at the beginning of next year (Drozdiak, Washington Post).
CLIMATE CHANGE II: World Bank Report Warns Of Risks To Islands
Small Pacific island states are among the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impacts of extreme weather patterns, which could be exacerbated by climate change in the future, according to a new report sponsored by the World Bank (Note: You may need to download free software to view this PDF file).
Cities, Seas and Storms: Managing Change in Pacific Island Economies was released Tuesday during the climate change summit in The Hague. It analyzes ways climate change could affect the islands' economies, including the substantial loss of coastal infrastructure and land, failure of subsistence crops and coastal fisheries, coral reef losses and the spread of malaria and dengue fever.
The report finds that a high island such as Viti Levu in Fiji could see damages between $23 million and $52 million a year by 2050, 2% to 4% of Fiji's current gross domestic product. A group of low islands, such as the Tarawa atoll in Kiribati, could face annual damages between $8 million and $16 million, between 17% and 34% of Kiribati's GDP.
The report warns that climate change should be considered one of the most important challenges of the 21st century, and that countries should make immediate action a priority. "The study confirms what we have always sensed and observed about climate change and its effects on our way of life," said Nakibae Teuatabo, Kiribati's coordinator for the Pacific Islands Climate Change Assistance Program.
The report is part of the World Bank's Year 2000 Regional Economic Report for the Pacific Islands. It was produced in collaboration with the International Global Change Institute (New Zealand), the Pacific Islands Climate Change Assistance Program's country teams in Fiji and Kiribati, the South Pacific Regional Environment Program, Stratus Consulting, the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research, and experts from 11 other institutions (World Bank Development News, 22 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: Negotiator Blames EU For Collapse [ Excerpts from UN Wire, 29 November 2000]
The senior US negotiator who attended the climate change summit in The Hague said yesterday that the weekend collapse of the talks stemmed from a "crisis of European governance."
Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Frank Loy said that the United States has still not been informed of why a compromise hammered out between the United States and European governments fell through. "We never had a response to why that deal fell apart," he said, adding that it is now up to the Europeans to restart any further discussions (Fidler/Houlder, Financial Times, 28 Nov).
US officials felt they had made a significant concession and had proposed an agreement by 8 a.m. Saturday, only to have the deal rejected by the 15-member European caucus. US negotiators said they then offered a more generous second offer later in the day, but said the Europeans responded by revisiting old disagreements and began "America-bashing" (UN Wire, 27 Nov).
European environment ministers, however, have defended their decision to reject the deal and have rallied behind French Environment Minister Dominique Voynet, who represented the European Union. Voynet was harshly blamed by British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott for not following through on the deal. He claimed that she had been too exhausted to understand the final details.
Danish Environment Minister Sven Auken said he was astonished by the attack on Voynet, and said an apology was in order from Prescott (Fidler/Houlden, Financial Times).
Meanwhile, some US-based environmental organizations are planning to meet today to review what went wrong and what progress was made at the climate change summit, including the National Environmental Trust, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Wildlife Fund. The business-oriented Global Climate Coalition is holding a separate review of the talks (Reuters/PlanetArk, 28 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: Annan Warns Of Protocol's Possible Failure [ Excerpts from UN Wire, 30 November 2000]
Continued international climate change policy disputes like the ones seen during last week's failed conference at The Hague may prevent the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas reduction from coming into force, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday.
Developing countries will suffer most from the impacts of climate change although they are the least responsible for it, Annan said in a statement. He reminded world leaders of their commitment to quickly bring the Kyoto agreement into force and offered UN assistance (UN release, 28 Nov).
Suspension of last week's environmental talks was not unprecedented. A February 1999 meeting on the Convention on Biological Diversity broke up without an accord, only to reconvene in January and formulate a widely accepted agreement (UN release, 27 Nov).
Kyoto Protocol A Failure, Fraud -- Commentaries
A Washington Post commentary dismissed the Kyoto Protocol as "poorly targeted" and called instead for country-based fuel taxes as an incentive to cut greenhouse gas emissions. "We must recognize Kyoto as a well-intentioned failure and move on to an approach that is politically feasible and substantial enough to address this serious threat," writes James Hammitt, professor of economics and decision sciences at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis (Washington Post, 29 Nov).
Martin Wolf, writing in the Financial Times, dismisses the Kyoto process as a "fraud." He says that no matter what agreements countries make on global warming, greenhouse gases will not be cut because of developed countries' continued increase in fossil fuel use and the lack of restrictions on developing countries (Martin Wolf, Financial Times, 29 Nov).
A Chicago Tribune editorial also argues for action outside the scope of the Kyoto Protocol. "America, which pumps out nearly one quarter of the world's greenhouse emissions, should take a lead," the editorial states. "If the world doesn't want to agree to reasonable, flexible terms, the US will simply have to set its own" (Chicago Tribune, 28 Nov).
A New York Times editorial, on the other hand, welcomes the "heartening progress" of last week's summit in terms of discussions on emissions trading and credit mechanisms. The editorial supports the next round of climate change negotiations in May (New York Times, 28 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: Summit Failure Puts Heat On Developing Nations [ Excerpts from UN Wire, 1 December 2000]
The recent collapse of talks during the climate change summit in The Hague has now intensified concern among developing countries, which had hoped for an accord to would bring international action against global warming, the Financial Times reports.
How the failure of industrialized nations to reach agreement this month on implementing the Kyoto Protocol will effect developing countries is already being assessed, and Costa Rican officials say one effect is that developing country deforestation will increase because forests were not included in a treaty.
Meanwhile, the summit developments have also disturbed island nations and coastal states, at risk because of rising sea levels attributed to global warming. "One-third of the world's most densely populated country would be flooded even with a small rise in the sea level," said Anwarul Chowdhury, Bangladeshi ambassador to the UN.
Tuiloma Slade, Samoa's UN ambassador and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, says that for Pacific island states such as Tuvalu and Kiribati, a sea-level rise of just a few feet could mean extinction. Jamaican Environment Minister Seymour Mullings said Jamaica is not immune from the dangers of global warming either.
"In Jamaica ... we have also been informed that if global warming continues at the current rate, our two international airports will be underwater by 2020," he said (Financial Times, 30 Nov).
On Tuesday, 1,000 residents of the Duke of York islands in Papua New Guinea were informed they will be evacuated to higher ground because the Pacific Ocean is encroaching on their homes. The islands, with such neighboring atolls as Takuu, are likely to be the first to be engulfed by rising sea levels. Up to 40,000 people from the Duke of York islands will ultimately have to be resettled (Kathy Marks, London Independent, 29 Nov).
While dependent to some degree on the actions taken by developed countries, developing countries have still sought to pursue their own initiatives, such as Central America's Mesoamerican Biological Corridor to protect threatened forests.
The United Nations and the World Bank are helping to fund the project, and the corridor will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 134 million tons a year and absorb 32 million tons. Being paid for those results seems increasingly unlikely, though, after the failure of the talks at The Hague, the Financial Times reports (30 Nov).
US Groups Call For Talks To Continue
Meanwhile, US environmental groups Tuesday urged climate change treaty negotiators to quickly resume the suspended talks, saying a deal to cut global greenhouse gas emissions was close. Negotiators have said they will resume talks in May.
"We all believe they need to reconvene in weeks, not months," said Jennifer Morgan, director of the World Wildlife Fund climate change campaign.
Environmentalists say any of the major players from The Hague talks could call for a resumption of discussions, saying that if given a little more time the negotiators could probably reach a compromise (Reuters/CNN.com, 29 Nov).
A Baltimore Sun commentary by environmental columnist Edward Flattau says there is still hope for moving forward with the Kyoto Protocol, which he calls "alive and kicking." Flattau writes that the "The Hague conference was not the horrendous setback that some news reports made it out to be," adding that "broad outlines of the Kyoto Protocol were agreed upon and final approval stalled over a dispute between the United States and the European Union regarding some relatively minor last-minute details" (Edward Flattau, Baltimore Sun, 30 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: Environmentalists Urge Continued Informal Talks [ Excerpts from UN Wire, 4 December 2000]
Following Saturday's collapse of UN-sponsored climate change talks at The Hague, environmentalists are calling for an immediate resumption of informal meetings among industrialized countries in advance of the next negotiating session, scheduled for May in Bonn, Germany.
"We hope that the ministers will reconvene, at least informally, as quickly as possible to build on what progress was made in The Hague," said Philip Clapp, president of the Washington-based National Environmental Trust (Inter Press Service/TerraViva, 1 Dec).
Despite the failure of last month's talks, observers still foresee a growth in emissions trading. Neil Cohn, principal of the energy brokerage firm Natsource, said emissions trading will become the primary means to reducing greenhouse gases because it is the cheapest and most efficient method available. "It sounds like an odd scheme, but it's the only one that can incentivize companies to cut emissions because there's a value attached to them," he said. Natsource estimates that the cost of meeting emissions reduction targets called for in the Kyoto Protocol could be reduced 75% to 80% using emissions trading.
As countries prepare their own mechanisms for emissions trading, Denmark has pioneered a system of "green certificates" (Reuters/PlanetArk, 1 Dec). Under this program, Danish power consumers will be required to buy a certain percentage of their energy from renewable sources. The consumer will receive a certificate for the units of renewable energy purchased, while buyers who fail to buy their quota of renewable energy will be fined (Europe Information Service, 23 Sep).
A letter to the editor of the Financial Times today criticized Martin Wolf's column earlier this week that claimed the Kyoto process to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is a "fraud." Liam Salter, international climate and development coordinator of the World Wildlife Fund's European Policy Unit, said greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced, with the Kyoto agreement acting as a "first step." He said industrialized countries will have to go beyond the agreement to "make significant changes in the way that energy is produced and consumed" (Liam Salter, Financial Times, 1 Dec).
The Competitive Enterprise Institute hailed last week's breakdown of talks as "a victory for consumers around the world." According to the group, the failure of the negotiators to agree on implementation strategies for the Kyoto Protocol "is good news for all those who value national sovereignty, personal freedom and economic prosperity" (Competitive Enterprise Institute release/Environmental News Network, 30 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: US, EU Countries Seek To Restart Summit [ Excerpts from UN Wire, 5 December 2000]
Less than two weeks after UN-sponsored climate change talks broke down at The Hague, European leaders plan to use a European Union meeting this week in Nice, France, to try to revive the discussions, the London Independent reports.
The EU countries are putting together a framework to restart the talks, which will be presented to US President Bill Clinton when he meets UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in Northern Ireland later this month. If plans for renewed talks go forward and are approved by other industrialized nations, including Japan, Canada and Australia, a new UN-sponsored summit could approve a climate change deal early next year.
"It's very sensitive, but we think we can get it back on track," a senior British minister said (Brown/Lean, London Independent, 3 Dec).
Clinton has reportedly approached the EU to push for a quick resolution of the climate change talks before he leaves office next month (Baltimore Sun, 3 Dec).
The EU has expressed its own commitment to continuing the climate change talks, which it said ran out of time at The Hague last month. "The resumption of [the climate change talks] will give us the second chance we need," said EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom, expressing confidence that a deal could be reached at the climate change meetings in May in Bonn (EU release, 30 Nov).
CLIMATE CHANGE: US And EU Officials To Hold Ottawa Talks
Senior US and European Union government officials are to meet in Ottawa tomorrow to try to salvage a climate change deal, following last month's collapse in negotiations at the climate change summit in The Hague, an EU official said yesterday.
If Ottawa session discussions go well, a ministerial-level meeting could follow early next week in Oslo, the official said. Tomorrow's meeting will be the first time the two sides have sat down together since the summit.
Massive EU-US differences on how to meet Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gas reduction targets prevented a deal.
The most contentious issue is whether countries should be allowed to count carbon dioxide absorbed by forests and farmlands toward emissions reduction targets. The EU had rejected a last-minute US compromise that would have allowed limited use of these "carbon sinks" (Reuters/Toronto Globe and Mail, 5 Dec).
Meanwhile, the business community worldwide is disappointed by the failure of the summit to produce a global agreement, chiefly because businesses are anxious to know what the new regulations regarding industrial pollution will be and how it will affect them.
"We were disappointed at the failure," said Nick Campbell of the International Chamber of Commerce, said to represent the interests of 7,000 companies. "Clarity is the main thing, so that businesses know where they stand" (Arthur Max, Associated Press, 5 Dec).
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