A US-sponsored international climate change conference convened in Hawaii on January 30 and 31. Delegates from 16 nations and 3 international organizations gathered to discuss what should be included in a blueprint for combating climate change.
The emissions reduction proposals, which the US opposed at a contentious climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia last month, was still high on the agenda of the Hawaii meeting.
In addition, participants discussed energy efficient technologies, ways rich countries could help developing countries, and countering deforestation.
Although the world's biggest polluters did not agree on concrete targets for slashing greenhouse emissions; participants touted what they saw as a new willingness by the US to discuss possible solutions.
"We are happy the position of the United States is changing," said Brice LaLonde, French climate change ambassador, at a press conference following the two-day meeting.
LaLonde pointed to bills in the US Congress addressing climate change, and the Bush administration's move to host the Hawaii meeting as evidence of a US shift.
But the United States was expected to take additional steps; and the delegates specifically hoped that Washington would join other industrialized nations in agreeing to a national mandatory greenhouse gas reduction target.
Arthur Runge-Metzger, the European Commission's head of climate change negotiations, said that European delegates failed to talk about the details of a European Union proposal for industrialized countries to slash emissions by 25 to 40%.
He added that delegates were in agreement that work needs to be done because of the dire consequences of rising temperatures, sea levels and environmental catastrophes.
The Bush administration, seen as a latecomer to the fight against global warming, has faced international criticism for repeatedly rejecting caps on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States: allegedly the world's biggest polluter.
A decade ago, the US government incurred accusation from the international community, given its opposition to agreed upon mandatory national reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
As Britain's environmental minister, Phil Woolas, put it, "no nation wants to be pointed out as the obstacle to progress on climate change." The US has been trying to shake off its "party pooper" image during and after the Bali conference; and is seeking voluntary pledges from nations for specific cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Bush, in his final State of the Union address, also committed $2 billion for a new international fund to promote clean energy technologies and combat climate change.
Chief US delegate Jim Connaughton, the White House environmental chief, said President Bush has long emphasized the importance of reducing emissions.
However, some environmentalists have voiced skepticism about the US's attempts to rebuild its reputation and what the Hawaii talks would accomplish, for a few reasons.
In September 2007, President Bush hosted the first round of talks among the major economic powers in Washington. The EU threatened to withdraw from the meetings, which environmentalists have viewed as a threat to the UN climate treaty process, but European nations agreed to participate after the Bali talks produced an agreement.
The Bali conference ended with the US agreeing to join nearly 190 countries in drafting the Bali roadmap: a blueprint for fighting climate change by 2009. But that only happened after participants loudly booed the US's repeated objections to the document.
"There is a realization that we have to make an agreement; otherwise we will all drown," Woolas said.
In response, Connaughton referred to US efforts supporting hydrogen energy, funding for energy efficient technologies and partnerships with other countries.
Perhaps it is too early to assess the accomplishments of the Hawaii conference; whereas attendees may draw some inspiration from what the words of Governor of Hawaii State, Linda Lingle, at the opening of the White House-sponsored international climate change meeting:
"It is only when we are able to get beyond our politics and ego, and rely on each other's strengths that we can begin to make significant progress. And energy security and climate change demand nothing less of us.'
Nations represented at the Hawaii conference, in addition to the US and Britain, were Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea and South Africa. Scientists say these countries account for 80 percent of emissions that contribute to global warming.
By People's Daily Online
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article