July 8, 2005

G8 to agree need for climate action but no targets

By Gernot Heller

GLENEAGLES, Scotland (Reuters) - The Group of Eight powers meeting in Scotland reached agreement on Thursday on the need for urgent action to combat global warming, but set no measurable targets, Germany's top negotiator said.

A draft with Thursday's date obtained from the French delegation contained an acknowledgment that human activity was a significant contributor to global warming, and that there was a need to reduce the greenhouse gases that trigger it.

But it made only cursory reference to the binding Kyoto accord on cutting greenhouse gases, signed by seven of the G8 powers and championed in Gleneagles by France and others -- but termed economic suicide by U.S. President George W. Bush.

France made clear that it saw the outcome as only just sufficient.

"Even if it does not go as far as we would have liked, it has one essential virtue in my eyes -- that is, to re-establish a dialogue and cooperation between the Kyoto seven and the United States on a subject of the highest importance," French President Jacques Chirac said.

FORMAL AGREEMENT DELAYED

Thursday's bombs on London's transport network forced a delay in the formal final agreement by heads of state, but German negotiator Bernd Pfaffenbach told reporters:

"The document was accepted and you can be sure that there won't be any more changes."

The text obtained from the French delegation contained no brackets to indicate that passages were still disputed, and so appeared likely to be a French translation of the text Pfaffenbach was referring to -- final in all but name.

In the event, it also went some way to meeting other demands from Kyoto signatories led by France. They wanted it to endorse the view of the world's top scientists that human activities are a significant contributor to global warming -- disputed recently by the Bush administration -- and require action.

"While uncertainties remain in our understanding of climate science, we know enough to act now to begin to slow down and, in so far as the science justifies it, arrest and reverse the increase in greenhouse gases," the French-language draft said.

"DETERMINATION AND URGENCY"

It committed all eight countries to "act with determination and urgency" to reach common goals that included reducing greenhouse gases, but without offering any yardstick.

The draft also stated that the United Nations provided the appropriate forum to negotiate a future multilateral regime to address climate change.

However, environmentalists were dismissive of a text that made no concrete commitment to any measurable reduction in greenhouse gases.

"President Bush is isolated from the 12 other countries who have all emphasised the need for tough targets to reduce CO2 emissions," Greenpeace director Stephen Tindale said, referring to the participation of South Africa, Mexico, India, China and Brazil in some of the G8 meetings.

The draft said it was in the interests of all to work with large emerging economies -- a reference in particular to China and India, which are expected to produce more greenhouse gases.

The G8 powers pledged to promote work on more efficient and cleaner energy use, and also to promote the transfer of new technology to developing countries, and to "launch a dialogue on climate change, clean energy and sustainable development".

Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said the Bush administration had "again done its best to derail international action to tackle climate change".

But he added: "Even if there was no progress here, there has been a big impact on public awareness."

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