Merkel offers climate compromise, tough talks ahead

KYOTO, Japan, Aug 31 (Reuters) German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to offer developing countries a compromise pact on climate change and carbon dioxide emissions based on population size, but said 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 before holding a speech at a symposium in Kyoto, an ancient Japanese capital.

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 this 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 per cent 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. This is the reason why the United States and Australia pulled out of Kyoto.

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.

However, wealthy nations tend to oppose the concept of a per-capita target since it could hurt countries with a small population and large industries.

Currently, per-capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are far higher in industrialised 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 said talks would be difficult. ''But there is no way to shirk them,'' 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. It is hoped delegates will 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.

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

The United States' chief climate negotiator in Vienna on Wednesday praised developing countries for their efforts to curb greenhouse gases, a marked shift from the US' usual call for big emitters such as China and India to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions from industry, transport and agriculture.

REUTERS GL RN1422