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24 november 2000
6 reasons why the deal is junk
Friends of the Earth International has
published six top reasons why the proposed
Pronk deal at the Hague talks is "junk".
1. It allows greenhouse gas emissions to
rise by the end of the first commitment
period (2008-2012). Even on a strict reading
of the Pronk text, it could allow emissions
to rise by more than 5%. This is the exact
opposite of the whole point of the Kyoto
Treaty which set a world reduction target of
5.2%.
2. It allows a giant "free gift" to the
United States of at least 50 million carbon
tonnes a year towards their Kyoto Targets, by
counting CO2 sequestered by existing forests
and farmlands. It also allows forest projects
in the Clean Development Mechanism, creating
another huge loophole in the Treaty and
encouraging the destruction of old growth
forests and their replacement by monoculture
plantations.
3. It fails to protect developing
countries, which will suffer most from the
effects of climate change.
4. It creates a giant market in hot air
trading, which will be exploited for profit
by multinational companies like DuPont and
Texaco, which have done so much to create
pollution from fossil fuels in the first
place.
5. It fails to exclude nuclear power from
the Joint Implementation mechanism, allowing
developed countries to finance, build and
extend the life of nuclear stations in former
Soviet and Eastern European countries.
6. It gives the US exactly what it sought
on compliance - only requiring countries that
fail to meet their Kyoto targets in the first
commitment period to add to their targets in
the next. The EU demand for strict financial
penalties has been dropped.
Commenting, FOEI Climate Campaigner
Frances MacGuire said:
"The Pronk deal is junk. In fact, it will
render the Kyoto Treaty less an agreement on
the environment than a squalid deal on
international trade. The very countries and
companies which created the disaster of
man-made climate change are now manoeuvring
to profit from it. Unless major changes are
made at the eleventh hour, many people will
pay with their lives, homes and jobs for this
second rate stitch up".
CONTACT:
Ian Willmore 0044 7887 641344 (FOEI)
Frances MacGuire 0044 7712 843460 (Climate
expert)
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