Dec 13, 2007, 12:46 GMT
Bali Island, Indonesia - Sharp disagreement over specific target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions threatened to scuttle the UN international climate change conference Thursday.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore (L) talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (R) during their meeting at the UN Climate Change Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia on 13 December 2007. Indonesia and the UNFCCC jointly host the 13th Session of Conference of Parties (COP13) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the third Session of Conference of Parties serving as a meeting of parties to Kyoto Protocol. EPA/MAST IRHAM
The US delegation firmly resisted proposals for industrialized nations to commit to a reduction of CO2 emissions by up to 40 per cent by 2020.
'We don't have to resolve all issues here in Bali,' said Paula Dobriansky, head of the US delegation, reiterating that the Bali roadmap should not anticipate the outcome of the future talks.
The US stance has stalled the plan to launch negotiations for a post-2012 agreement, when the Kyoto Protocol expires, and placed the only developed country not to ratify the pact in clear conflict with the European Union.
The EU on Thursday threatened to not hold any other talks on climate change outside of the UN if no satisfactory consensus is reached by the end of the conference Friday.
'If there is no result in Bali, there will be no further meeting of the countries of the major economies,' said German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, referring to the US-led talks inaugurated in September by President George W Bush.
Follow-up meetings are scheduled for January in Hawaii and for February in Paris.
Government ministers from more than 180 countries intensified their negotiations Thursday amid growing concern that the Bali conference could fail.
Delegates wrangled over whether to mention scientific evidence of the need for emissions cuts in the range of 25-40 per cent below the 1990 levels by 2020 as part of the guidelines for the talks.
The issued had taken on new urgency with the publication of a report last month by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warning of irreversible catastrophe caused by global warming if greenhouse emissions are not rapidly reduced.
The EU and most developing nations are pushing for the target range to be included in the text, but are opposed by the US, Canada, Japan and Australia, which say any mention of numbers will prejudge the negotiations.
UN climate chief Yvo de Boer expressed concern Thursday that the deadlock between the US and EU over emissions cuts threatens to derail the talks.
'I'm very concerned about the pace of things,' he said. 'If we don't get wording on the future, then the whole house of cards falls to pieces.'
'Given the long-term nature of climate change, it is absolutely necessary that we win the fight against global warming in time, to ensure that our children for many generations to come can also win in the long run,' said said Yongyuth Yuthavong, Thailand's minister of science and technology.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said political momentum has built up this year, opening the door for ministers to strike a deal that is good for people and nature. The group urged the ministers to reach a landmark agreement that puts countries on track to avoid dangerous climate change.
'Ministers need to see the wood from the trees and personally invest in a political package that meets the needs of a climate-stressed world,' said Hans Verolme, director of WWF's Climate Change Programme.
'Also it must result in a binding global deal by 2009 under which all rich countries make deep cuts in emissions, and an agreement on technology and other incentives to speed up climate action everywhere.'
Lavinia Bernadette Rounds-Ganilau, the minister of labour and industrial relations, tourism and environment of Fiji, said poor nations, especially small island states, where millions of people live in low-lying areas,are the most affected by climate change.
'Together with our sister island sovereign states, we are one of the most-vulnerable island groups in the world, facing climate change devastation,' Rounds-Ganilau said.
She urged the participants to agree to negotiate a Bali mandate for the second commitment period over the next two years and commit to reducing emissions now.
'I have come here carrying the hopes of the people of Fiji - both present and those yet to come - that the global leaders will make deicisons this week, that will ensure we still have an island home called 'Fiji' by the turn of the century,' Rounds-Ganilau said.
Despite what is an apparent low point in the talks, some progress emerged on the issue of financial transfers to developing states most severely affected by rising sea levels, desertification and other fallout from climate change.
According to the UN Development Programme, anti-disaster measures in Britain alone cost six times more than the amounts spent in all poor countries combined.
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