Merkel backs climate deal based on population

KYOTO, Japan, Aug 31 (Reuters) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she wanted to offer developing countries a compromise climate change pact based on population size, but warned today that negotiations will be tough.

Merkel, who helped draw up the Kyoto Protocol on climate change as Germany's environment minister in 1997, made global warming and talks over a deal to succeed the protocol the focus of her three-day visit to Japan.

''The question is: at what point can we involve developing countries, and what kind of measure do we use to create a just world?'' Merkel said in Kyoto, the ancient Japanese capital where the 1997 protocol was agreed.

Merkel suggested that developing countries should be allowed to increase their emissions per capita while industrialised national cut theirs, until both sides reach the same level.

She brought up the proposal when she met officials in China before travelling to Japan, but the Chinese were sceptical, according to the German delegation.

''Once (developing countries) reach the level of industrialised countries, the reduction begins,'' Merkel said.

A similar idea was fielded by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the G8 summit with major developing countries in Germany in June.

Under the Kyoto pact, 35 developed nations are obliged to cut emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012.

Developing nations, many of which have signed the protocol, are not obliged to make any reductions during the pact's first phase -- a concession that saw the United States and Australia pull out of the pact.

Both nations, among the world's top per-capita polluters, say it's unfair that big developing nations such as China, India and Indonesia, are excluded and view the pact as bad for their economies.

DIFFICULT ROAD AHEAD Many developing countries, in turn, are worried that strict environmental regulations will hamper economic growth. They demand industrialised nations, as chief polluters, bear the brunt of emission cuts.

In turn, wealthy nations with relatively small populations and large industries fear a per-capita target could hurt them.

Currently, per-capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are far higher in rich economies than in their poorer counterparts.

The United States produces about 20 tonnes of CO2 a year per capita, Germany 11 tonnes and the European Union an average of 9 tonnes, according to the German government.

China, on the other hand, churns out only 3.5 tonnes a year per head. The global average is 4.2 tonnes.

Merkel repeated the aim was to halve global CO2 emissions by 2050.

''That's a very big goal, but it's the consensus among experts.

If we can't reach that, we'll pay for it dearly,'' she said. ''If we don't do anything, we have to expect considerable changes in our climate.'' The United Nations is holding a major meeting on climate change in December on the Indonesian island of Bali. Backers want delegates to agree to launch talks on a new climate pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which runs out in 2012.

Negotiators are aiming to hammer out the new pact by 2009, and Japan plays a crucial role since it is hosting the next G8 summit in Hokkaido in 2008.

Merkel pointed out that targets included in the Kyoto Protocol had not been reached. The European Union has only achieved a 1.9 per cent cut so far compared to a targeted 8 per cent reduction, she said. Emissions have increased in Japan, which had pledged to cut them by 6 per cent.

About 1,000 delegates from 158 nations are currently meeting in Vienna to discuss global warming.

REUTERS KK PM1620