Sep 15, 2009, 15:04 GMT
Vienna - The goal for the climate conference in Copenhagen is to reach a deal that can actually be implemented, rather than agreeing on binding high targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday in Vienna.
The United Nations' International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is calling for countries to make firm commitments to reduce emissions that cause global warming by 25 to 40 per cent below 1990 levels.
'Let's not make that one particular time the be-all and end-all, and if it doesn't happen, oh, we're doomed,' Chu told reporters in Vienna, where he was attending the International Atomic Energy Agency's annual general conference.
If one defined success at Copenhagen only in terms of reaching a 30- to 40-per cent reduction in carbon emissions until 2020 and legally binding agreements from developing countries to cap their emissions, Chu said, 'I think you may be teeing it up for disappointment.'
In the lead-up to the Copenhagen conference, industrialized nations have not been to agree with China, India and developing countries over binding targets and how to shoulder the costs of addressing climate change.
But Chu said he hoped for the 'most aggressive, best agreements given the political realities that all these countries face.'
At a minimum, any deal should cap of carbon emission and not 'safety valves' in an agreement, he said.
Chu noted that many countries that signed up to the Kyoto treaty did not comply with its goals. 'One has to really look at how to really get there,' he added.
The US never ratified the Kyoto treaty, in part because the pact demanded no emissions reductions from emerging economies like China and India.
The US aims to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by 17 per cent by 2020 and more than 80 per cent by 2050, while the European Union has set itself a target of cutting by 20 per cent until 2020.
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