G8 climate consensus emerging, US odd man out
Potsdam
(Germany),
Mar
19:
A
consensus
on
the
need
to
protect
the
world's
environment
is
emerging
among
rich
and
developing
nations,
but
the
United
States
remains
at
odds
with
other
countries
on
key
points,
Germany
said.
Environment
ministers
of
the
Group
of
Eight
leading
industrialised
nations,
and
officials
from
leading
developing
countries,
were
meeting
to
prepare
for
a
June
G8
summit
at
which
climate
change
will
be
a
major
topic.
''On
two
issues,
the
United
States
were
the
only
ones
who
spoke
against
consensus,''
German
Environment
Minister
Sigmar
Gabriel
told
reporters
yesterday
at
the
end
of
the
two-day
meeting,
which
he
chaired
on
behalf
of
Germany's
G8
presidency.
Gabriel
said
the
US
remained
opposed
to
a
global
carbon
emissions
trading
scheme
like
the
one
used
in
the
European
Union
and
rejected
the
idea
that
industrialised
nations
should
help
achieve
a
''balance
of
interests''
between
developing
countries'
need
for
economic
growth
and
environmental
protection.
''We
find
this
regrettable,''
Gabriel
said,
adding
''I
would
have
been
disappointed
if
I'd
expected
something
different.''
The
June
summit
of
G8
nations
--
Germany,
the
United
States,
Britain,
France,
Italy,
Canada,
Japan
and
Russia
--
will
take
place
in
the
Baltic
resort
of
Heiligendamm.
German
Chancellor
Angela
Merkel
has
put
climate
change
at
the
top
of
the
agenda
for
the
meeting,
which
the
developing
nations
that
were
in
Potsdam
--
China,
India,
South
Africa,
Brazil
and
Mexico
--
will
also
attend.
Consensus
On
Science
Yvo
de
Boer,
Executive
Secretary
of
the
United
Nations
Framework
Convention
on
Climate
Change,
told
reporters
there
were
areas
where
progress
had
been
achieved,
and
noted
a
broad
consensus
on
the
causes
of
global
warming.
The
Bush
administration,
which
for
years
questioned
the
reliability
of
scientific
findings
showing
man-made
pollution
was
responsible
for
the
planet's
warming,
has
shifted
its
stance.
Washington
now
backs
the
conclusions
in
a
UN
report
last
month
which
said
mankind
was
to
blame
for
global
warming
and
predicted
an
increase
in
droughts
and
heatwaves
and
a
slow
rise
in
sea
levels.
''There
is
a
strong
consensus
on
the
science,''
de
Boer
said.
''We
can
now
put
behind
us
the
period
when
science
was
called
into
question.''
Several
environmental
groups
criticised
the
United
States,
which
in
2001
pulled
out
of
the
U.N.
Kyoto
Protocol
on
reducing
greenhouse
gases,
for
refusing
to
support
carbon
dioxide
(CO2)
emissions
reduction
targets
at
the
Potsdam
meeting.
Developing
countries
cite
the
US
position
as
a
reason
for
their
refusal
to
commit
to
reduction
targets.
Tobias
Muenchmeyer
of
Greenpeace
said
Merkel
should
make
the
Heiligendamm
talks
a
''climate
crisis
summit''
at
which
G8
nations
should
commit
themselves
to
cutting
emissions
by
30
per
cent
by
2020.
Muenchmeyer
said
the
world
should
not
wait
for
the
United
States
but
should
agree
tough,
mandatory
targets
without
it.
''We
can't
afford
to
wait
for
the
slowest
country,''
he
said.
The
Kyoto
Protocol
expires
in
2012
and
the
US
position
will
be
crucial
in
negotiating
post-Kyoto
emissions
targets.
Reuters