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25 november 2000
kyoto climate treaty ends in shame
Yesterday, representatives from several
FoE European groups, including Scotland,
France, Germany, England, Ireland, Spain and
Italy, stormed the Delegates Hall at the
climate conference in The Hague. The
environmental NGO campaigners brought 15
sandbags from the dike constructed by FoE
around the conference center last Saturday to
give to the 15 European Environment Ministers
in a call for serious action.
Tragically the efforts of the EU to stand
up for the Protocol's environmental integrity
and the work of the Chair, Dutch Environment
Minister Jan Pronk, found no compromise with
the demands of the USA and other countries in
the so-called Umbrella group (including
Japan, Australia and Canada). These countries
want to avoid making any reductions in their
use of fossil fuels and push to include a
range of loopholes and get-out clauses in the
"Flexibility Mechanisms" annex to the
Treaty.
A review of the following key issues
outlines what would have been the
consequences of ceding to the US
position:
- Greenhouse gas emissions to rise by the
end of the first commitment period
(2008-2012): Even with strict adherence to
the Treaty as it now stands, emissions are
permitted 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%.
- Forest and agricultural land-use
management instead of real reduction of
carbon emissions: The US will get at least 50
million tons of credits for their forests,
without doing any work to address the real
problems of their fossil fuel industries.
- The "Flexibility Mechanisms" &
Credits towards reduction targets for
projects in other countries, without any work
done at home: The EU had originally proposed
a positive list‘ of sustainable energy
projects, such as renewables and energy
efficiency. However the US pushed for droping
any ecological criteria.
- A giant market in hot air trading was
promoted over the real work of making
domestic CO2 reductions, to be exploited for
profit by multinational companies like DuPont
and Texaco, responsible for pollution from
fossil fuels in the first place.
Commenting, FOEI Climate Campaigner
Frances MacGuire said:
"Because of the destructive demands of the
Umbrella Group countries, in particular the
US, the Kyoto Treaty became 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 manoeuvred to
profit from it, and in doing so wrecked the
hope of any agreement. Many people will pay
with their lives, homes and jobs for this
failure".
Martin Rocholl, Political Director of
Friends of the Earth Europe stated:
"It is now up to the countries of the
European Union to push forward with the
innovation and political leadership involved
in reforming our energy, transport and trade
policies in the direction of a sustainable
development. Let us be the first to show the
United States, and other countries in the
pockets of the dinosaur fossil fuel
industries, how we can profit and safeguard
the environment at the same time."
Contact Roda Verheyen, FoE climate team :
0044 7712 843216
Contact Martin Rocholl, FoEE : 0032 2 542 01
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