The EU sets the bar high at the international climate change conference in Bali by calling for ambitious emissions targets to reach by 2050
Representatives from the world’s leading governments began Monday to unveil the potentially conflicting agendas they will seek to advance during an international climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia.
Leaders from the European Union kicked off the UN-led conference Monday by declaring that they will seek ambitious international emissions reduction targets of 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
“It would be sensible, to give direction to the negotiation process, but we have to see how far we get,” said Arthur Runge-Metzger, leader of the European delegation.
EU member states have already committed to reducing emissions by 20 percent by 2020, and a spokeswoman for the European Commission told SPIEGEL ONLINE last week that they would seek a 30-percent international decrease in the new contract.
Officials from over 180 nations have gathered in Bali to start drafting a new international treaty to govern greenhouse gas emission reductions.
There was good news for environmentalists already on the first day of the conference, as newly-elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signed the Kyoto Protocol. Australia is now the 37th country to make a binding commitment to reduce emissions to 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Rudd’s decision to ratify the treaty reverses the position of his conservative predecessor, John Howard, who refused to sign the pact.
“I think I can speak for all present here by expressing a sigh of relief,” said conference host and Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar during the conference’s opening session.
Australia’s decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol isolates the United States as the only developed nation that has not signed the treaty. The leader of the US delegation in Bali, Harlan Watson, said the US would respect Australia’s reversal and stressed that their goal in Bali was not to sidetrack the negotiation of a new treaty.
“We’re not here to be a roadblock,” Watson said during a press conference. “We respect the decision that other countries have made and we would, of course, ask them to respect the decision we have made.”
President George W. Bush rejected the pact in 2001, saying that it would hinder the US economy and that it unfairly excused some of the world’s largest polluters, like the developing economies of China and India.
Watson said Monday that the US would openly discuss the possibility of a new international emissions reduction treaty, but that any binding commitments would need to cover those major developing economies as well. Leaders in China and India have said in the past that it is unfair to impose emissions restrictions on their rapidly growing economies as they attempt to lift hundreds of millions of their citizens out of poverty.
The conference in Bali, which runs until Dec. 14, is the first meeting to establish a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires after its commitment period ends in 2012. While broad issues will be discussed at the conference, concrete expectations are modest.
UN officials hope that delegates will set 2009 as the deadline by which a new treaty must be drafted, which they believe would leave enough time for it to be ratified and enacted in 2012. That would leave no gap between the parameters of the Kyoto Protocol and the requirements of a new treaty.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/
December 5th, 2007
Published by ksingh16, December 4th, 2007 Asia , Bali 2007 , global warmingÂ
As dawn broke on the island of Bali, Indonesia on December 3, 2007, I think something bigger than just the UN Climate Change negotiations were kicked off. As approximately 9,000 delegates from nearly every country in the world convene here, it is not going unnoticed the significance of this gathering taking place on the Asian continent. A lot more is on the table than just items like “adaptation,” “CDM,” or “Technology Transfer.” The inclusion and role of developing countries is as usual weighing heavily on the minds of the delegates and two countries, India and China–both on the Asian continent and making up 1/3rd of the global population–are considered exceptionally important in this process. We have all heard about the “Rise of Asia” and the pace at which the economies of India and China are galloping. Unfortunately not enough attention is given to the ecological implications of such rapid growth unless we are talking carbon emissions and climate change.
Aside from these important negotiations, the start of the conference has also signaled the coming together of youth from various parts of Asia. Many of them youth leaders and pioneers in the environmental movement in their respective countries–are now seizing this opportunity to building a stronger pan-Asian network for youth working on climate change and other environmental issues. It is evident that the rise of environmental consciousness is taking place across the Asian continent, perhaps in reaction to the onslaught on the local environments from haphazard development. I see myself in a unique opportunity as part of the US youth delegation (being a resident of the US) but also still a citizen of India to work with other Asian youth here and represent the voices of Indian youth with whom I have been interacting over the past 4 months in India. Voices of the youth from the global South are often under represented and though it is encouraging to see strong and committed youth from places like the global North, one must realize the importance having a similar contingent of youth from the global South. That is where we know we will need increasing environmental action as the countries rapidly develop in an effort to lift millions out of poverty.
There are youth from nine different Asian countries present including several islands of Indonesia (Bali, Java, and Bogor), Japan, Singapore, China, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Nepal, India and with rumors of more. This evening the first informal “Asian Youth Caucus” took place to determine what steps will be taken to build and strengthen the coalition between youth working on climate change issues (and perhaps other environmental issues) from across the continent. The members come from backgrounds as diverse as forestry and management consulting to energy and nonprofit work, but they all have the same passion: to see action taken to combat climate change. Within the International Youth Caucus, it is obvious that there is more direction from those from North America and Australia, however concerted effort is being made to ensure that the voices of all youth are represented in the overall “youth vision.” Unfortunately, before the youth vision can include any discussion on the role of developing countries in emissions reductions, stronger representation of voices from the global South is necessary. Perhaps the a stronger voice in the form of an “Asian youth network for climate cooperation” might show the way. It could be quite similar to the “African Youth Initiative on Climate Change” which came out of the COP12 in Nairobi, Kenya last year.
Something similar is happening concurrently on the island of Bogor, Indonesia. A gathering of approximately 200 youth age 8-16 from across Asia are also convening to discuss climate change. Perhaps this is a movement that is gaining pace faster than one would imagine. Once youth around Asia are empowered through the network they can themselves begin to formulate the future of the continent and roles of Asian nations with regards to climate change. They are of course, Asia’s hope for the future.
Source: http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/
December 5th, 2007