Posted on 12/15/2007 9:22:53 AM PST by TheEaglehasLanded
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) — World climate negotiators set a 2009 deadline Saturday for a landmark treaty to fight global warming after two weeks of intense haggling led to a climbdown by an isolated United States.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who flew to the Indonesian island of Bali for a late appeal for flexibility, praised the deal as a "pivotal first step" to confront climate change, "the defining challenge of our time."
Following gruelling all-night talks, the conference of 190 nations finally launched a process to negotiate a new treaty for when the UN Kyoto Protocol's commitments expire in 2012.
It comes after a year of stark warnings from Nobel-winning scientists, who say millions of people will be at risk of hunger, homelessness and disease by 2100 if temperatures keep rising at current rates.
The United States, the only major industrialised nation to reject the Kyoto treaty, reached a compromise with the European Union to avoid mentioning any figures as a target for slashing greenhouse gas emissions.
The deal instead only makes an indirect reference to scientists' warnings that the world must sharply cut back its emissions to prevent what could be a catastrophic rise in temperatures.
But after the summit went into an unscheduled 13th day of talks, the United States said it would not accept the statement as it wanted developing countries such as fast-growing China to make tougher commitments.
The senior US negotiator, Paula Dobriansky, said she had heard "many strong statements from many major developing country leaders on a greater role in helping to address urgently this global problem."
It "doesn't seem it's going to be reflected in our outcome here in the declaration," she said, explaining why the United States would reject the draft.
Dobriansky was loudly booed by other delegations, and a US environmental activist representing Papua New Guinea said to rousing cheers: "If you're not willing to lead, please get out of the way."
After repeated verbal lashings, Dobriansky again took the microphone and said that Washington would "go forward and join consensus," to the cheers of the conference.
German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, a strong critic of US President George W. Bush's climate policy, said he was ready to ask through his mobile telephone for Chancellor Angela Merkel to intervene with the White House.
"I had already typed the SMS after Dobriansky's first statement but then I was able to cancel it," Gabriel said.
"In the end, nobody wanted to have a failure," including the United States, Gabriel said.
"We have achieved more than we could have expected previously, but it is less than what is needed to meet the urgency of the problem."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the agreement "a vital step forward for the whole world". He added: "I am delighted that after two weeks of intensive talks the world's nations have agreed on a Roadmap to achieving a new global framework for tackling climate change. The Bali Roadmap is just the first step."
And German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the Roadmap "opens the way to real negotiations on effective measures to protect the climate, and for binding targets" on reducing CO2 emissions.
"Of course, the road to an agreement to succeed Kyoto is still paved with obstacles," she said, adding that she was "convinced" that Bali will bring real progress.
"The joint stance of the Europeans was an important foundation for this good result. Without it, success at Bali would not have been possible."
The agreement came after extraordinary scenes in which UN chief Ban jetted in for a last-ditch appeal, the UN's exhausted climate chief nearly broke down in tears and conference chair Indonesia apologised for a disastrous procedural mix-up.
"What we witnessed today was an incredible drama," said Alden Meyer of the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists.
"I've been following these negotiations for 20 years and I've never seen anything like it."
Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said the deal showed global commitment and broke down the divide between countries with Kyoto obligations and those without.
"In that sense, what we're seeing disappear here today is what I would call the Berlin Wall of climate change," he said.
Hans Verolme of conservation group WWF accused the world of bowing to US pressure and removing a scientific punch needed to fight global warming.
But he also said the Bali talks would inspire environmentalists and activist nations until the end of Bush's mandate in January 2009.
"We have learned a historic lesson. If you expose to the world the dealings of the United States, they will ultimately back down."
Bush has argued that Kyoto is unfair as it does not require fast-growing emerging economies such as China, the second largest emitter after the United States, to meet targeted emissions curbs.
Which makes his actions on this all the more stupid. The press is going to hate him and put him in the worst light possible no matter what, so he might as well just hit the ground running and do what's right, screw the press. If the the press is going to hate you and hound you, what do you have to lose? At this point, how is the press going to get any worse?
Since he's so worried about his precious press coverage, he might as well please the conservative half of the electorate instead of making everybody hate him.
True, but the article makes it sound like the U.S. was the only country ever to reject Kyoto. If they were more honest, they would have phrased it as something like, "the only remaining major industrialized nation to reject Kyoto"--except that even that isn't true, since as rogue yam pointed out in post #45, China may now be considered an industrialized nation as well, and it certainly ain't a minor one.
On another thread where the final text was rejected the posts seem to be praising Bush. There are many universes and some are parallel.
Thanks President Bush. That's exactly the lesson we wanted the world to learn. What puke.
China has a great deal of industry (in the top 5 for sure, maybe even #2 behind us) and they are experiencing rapid growth. China has a great deal of coal and very little oil and gas. China intends to continue to grow and strengthen and become wealthier and has no intention of accepting limits on their emissions. "Environmentalists" ignore all this because their true goal is socialistic world government.
Ever heard of the phrase "The buck stops here?"
That line makes my blood boil.
What you missed is that this is about politics not science. In politics perception is reality, and the perceptions of the international jerkwaters speak for themselves. Maybe it is just kicking the can down the road, as others have suggested, but that still means you have joined the game after having first refused to play.
"We have learned a historic lesson. If you expose to the world the dealings of the United States, they will ultimately back down."
is a disaster for us all.
Well .. I seem to recall that Colin Powell made several boo-boos after he headed up the state dept. Are you saying Condi is immune from making a mistake ..?? Or immune to allowing her underling to agree to something not in the best interests of the USA.
That seems a little naive to me. I remember Powell being summoned to the WH where he was then FORCED to publically apologize for his actions. After a couple of those dust-ups, he began saying, “I serve at the pleasure of the President” .. meaning he would no longer make those decisions without the approval of Bush. How can you be sure Condi hasn’t made the same mistake ..??
Just because you have ought against Bush .. please don’t assume all the rest of us agree with you - and I mean that in the nicest way. And .. if you didn’t know who I was .. would you even speak to me that way ..??
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
How ‘bout we pass a trade law that says we only buy from countries that meet the highest standards? And get some other countries to do the same.
Ever heard of Colin Powell ..?? The head of the state dept who made a couple of rash decisions of his own and was summoned to the WH and forced to apologize in public for his mistakes.
How do we know this has not happened again ..??
Then, if a treaty is written, it will still have to be approved by the Senate, just like Kyoto.
Kyoto was never approved by the Democrat Senate, and this one probably will not be approved either.
I suspect the media's panting and panting over this so-called "concession" is nothing but window dressing. Bush is merely saying, OKAY, LET'S TALK. And that is being played up as a big deal.
The new PM campaigned in support of global warming, but as soon as he learned what it would do to the Aussie economy he changed his mind !
No but the principle has been established. The "negotiations" will only be haggling over the price. And if we have the bad guys in office after 2008 the price will be steep indeed.
I certainly didn’t miss that this is politics but this is how politics is handled. Telling them to stuff it and walk out surely feels good. However, what’s so much more important is getting these global political morons to understand what’s really important and that’s cooperating on nuclear, chemical and biological proliferation. Sometimes it makes sense not to call someone an a-hole to their face if there’s even the possibility you might get the tiniest shred of cooperation on other things. I don’t see that we gave much up much other than the temporary and fleeting satisfaction of telling them to blow carbon credits out their pie holes. ;-)
You mean like Al Gore? a scientist? Bwahahahahahahaha!
I am so sick of this president’s kowtowing to the left on this sort of stuff. This garbage needs to be met with a “I don’t accept your premise and that is why I won’t go along with your ‘prescriptions’”. Instead, he allows them to get their basic premise accepted.
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