Kyoto Accord Might Be Ratified Without U.S.
Countries committed to ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change in 2002 may have to proceed without the U.S. if Washington continues to stall progress on global carbon dioxide emissions reduction, the German Environment Ministry said late on Monday.
Countries committed to ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change in 2002 may have to proceed without the U.S. if Washington continues to stall progress on global carbon dioxide emissions reduction, the German Environment Ministry said late on Monday.
"Maybe it will be necessary to ratify the Protocol without the U.S. and to instead pave the way for them to join later," Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes, director general at the environment ministry told Reuters at a conference in Leipzig.
Talks between the European Union and the United States on implementing the agreement were suspended in November because of intractable differences between the two sides.
One sticking point is the United States wants to use its forests as "sinks" to soak up pollution to meet its emissions reduction targets.
"One alternative would be to accept their requirement for sinks on a short-term basis so they can ratify by the next Kyoto target of 2008," he said.
Germany opposes sinks, arguing they are little more than temporary absorbers of carbon dioxide and are a way for nations to avoid cutting pollution.
Once ratified, the deal will set legally binding targets on the world's richer nations to cut "greenhouse gases" which are blamed for global warming.
The new Bush administration, seeking to ally fears it would withdraw from the Kyoto process, said earlier this month it aims to finalise a deal when talks resume in Bonn in July.
Kyoto talks -- the so-called COP 6 negotiations -- are scheduled to resume on July 16-27 in Bonn, while COP 7 will be held in Morocco in late October.
U.S. Is World's Worst Polluter
Stephen Singer, of the World Wildlife Fund, said the U.S. was the worst polluter not simply in terms of total emissions but also with the highest level per capita.
China and India, for example, have total annual emissions of 200 and 300 million tons respectively, but emissions per capita of 2.5 and 0.9 tons.
This contrasts with the U.S. that emits 720 million tons and has a per capita figure of 20.5 tons
"I believe we should start to ratify without the U.S. After all the Protocol has been signed already by 85 parties and ratified by 33 of them, with Romania the latest a few weeks ago" Singer added.
Story © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
"Maybe it will be necessary to ratify the Protocol without the U.S. and to instead pave the way for them to join later," Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes, director general at the environment ministry told Reuters at a conference in Leipzig.
Talks between the European Union and the United States on implementing the agreement were suspended in November because of intractable differences between the two sides.
One sticking point is the United States wants to use its forests as "sinks" to soak up pollution to meet its emissions reduction targets.
"One alternative would be to accept their requirement for sinks on a short-term basis so they can ratify by the next Kyoto target of 2008," he said.
Germany opposes sinks, arguing they are little more than temporary absorbers of carbon dioxide and are a way for nations to avoid cutting pollution.
Once ratified, the deal will set legally binding targets on the world's richer nations to cut "greenhouse gases" which are blamed for global warming.
The new Bush administration, seeking to ally fears it would withdraw from the Kyoto process, said earlier this month it aims to finalise a deal when talks resume in Bonn in July.
Kyoto talks -- the so-called COP 6 negotiations -- are scheduled to resume on July 16-27 in Bonn, while COP 7 will be held in Morocco in late October.
U.S. Is World's Worst Polluter
Stephen Singer, of the World Wildlife Fund, said the U.S. was the worst polluter not simply in terms of total emissions but also with the highest level per capita.
China and India, for example, have total annual emissions of 200 and 300 million tons respectively, but emissions per capita of 2.5 and 0.9 tons.
This contrasts with the U.S. that emits 720 million tons and has a per capita figure of 20.5 tons
"I believe we should start to ratify without the U.S. After all the Protocol has been signed already by 85 parties and ratified by 33 of them, with Romania the latest a few weeks ago" Singer added.
Story © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
