Climate Change a Hot Topic at APEC Gathering
Date: 04-Sep-07
Country: INTERNATIONAL
No binding targets for greenhouse gas reductions are
expected to be agreed but officials might back a consensus on
what a replacement for the UN Kyoto Protocol climate change
pact might look like.
Many governments want environment ministers meeting at UN
climate talks in Bali, Indonesia, in December to launch
two-year negotiations to agree a broader international treaty
to replace Kyoto.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
Kyoto's first phase runs out in 2012 and there are growing
diplomatic efforts to find a formula that brings rich and
developing nations together to curb emissions growth of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Scientists say time is
running out to stop damaging climate change caused by a
build-up of these gases in the atmosphere.
Big polluters such as China, India, the United States and
Australia are firmly opposed to binding emissions cuts, saying
this will harm their economies. Developing nations also want
rich countries to agree to deep cuts first, blaming the
industrialised world for much of the greenhouse gas pollution
already in the air.
WHAT'S BEEN AGREED ON CLIMATE CHANGE THIS YEAR
June 2007 - Rich nations in the Group of Eight said they
wanted agreement by the end of 2009 on a long-term UN plan to
fight global warming, partly in response to warnings of ever
more floods, droughts, heatwaves and rising sea levels.
The G8 agreed at a summit in Germany that "resolute and
concerted international action" was urgently needed, vowing to
stem a rise in greenhouse gases, followed by "substantial"
reductions. They didn't specify what they meant by substantial.
Aug 2007 - Industrial countries agree at 158-nation talks
to non-binding emissions cuts of between 25 and 40 percent
below 1990 levels. The agreement is seen as a starting point
for rich nations' work on a new pact to replace the Kyoto
Protocol.
Delegates to the talks in Vienna agreed that the 25-40
percent range for non-binding cuts by 2020 "provides useful
initial parameters for the overall level of ambition of further
emissions reductions".
WHAT'S NEXT
-- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum leaders meet in
Sydney, including US President George W. Bush and Chinese
President Hu Jintao, for a summit on Sept. 8-9.
-- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to hold a
high-level meeting on climate change on Sept. 24 on the fringes
of the UN General Assembly's annual session in New York.
-- President Bush has called a meeting of major emitters in
Washington on Sept. 27-28 to work out future cuts.
-- Dec. 3-14 UN meeting on climate change in Bali.
NOTABLE PLEDGES, INITIATIVES
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says developing countries
should be allowed to increase their emissions per capita while
industrialised nations cut theirs, until both sides reached the
same level. India has also discussed this idea as a possible
compromise.
At June's G8 summit, leaders agreed to consider Merkel's
aim for a 50 percent cut in emissions by 2050. Japan has also
proposed cutting its emissions in half by 2050.
Australia's Howard will push APEC leaders to address the
climate change issue by agreeing to a "post-Kyoto framework",
though without binding emission targets.
Howard announced A$70 million (US$58 million) in Asia-Pacific
climate change initiatives on Sunday, which will help fund the
development and deployment of cleaner, more efficient energy
technologies in the region.
(Source: Reuters)
(Compiled by David Fogarty; Singapore World Desk, +65 6870
3814)