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4
december 2000
friends of the earth international
welcomes early resumption of climate
talks
Friends of the Earth International
welcomes news that international talks on a
global climate treaty are to resume tomorrow
(Wednesday) in Ottowa, Canada. Reports [1]
say that representatives from the US, Canada
and Japan will meet with officials from the
EU's executive commission and the governments
of France, Sweden, Britain and Germany. The
meeting, which is due to last two days, may
be followed by a ministerial-level meeting in
Oslo next week.
Tony Juniper, Vice Chairman of Friends of
the Earth International, said:
"This is welcome news. The credibility of
the Kyoto Protocol is at stake. However, it
is vital that any agreement reached leads to
real
cuts in emissions rather than allowing the
US and its allies yet more scope to carry on
polluting. The US must enter these new talks
prepared to offer significantly more than it
did in the Hague. There is little time to
waste. Further delay will only risk the lives
and livelihoods of many people around the
world."
European heads of government meeting in
Nice for the EU Intergovernmental Conference
this week will also discuss plans to revive
last month's failed climate change talks at
The Hague.
Friends of the Earth Europe’s Political
Co-ordinator Martin Rocholl said:
"The EU must stand firm. The Kyoto
Protocol must not be compromised by the
inclusion of the kinds of ‘do-nothing’
loopholes which the US were pushing for at
The Hague. The environmental integrity of the
treaty lies in the reduction of CO2
emissions. Any agreement reached in the
coming months must not include unlimited
credits for ‘sinks’ - forestry plantations
and crop-land management must not become ways
to avoid addressing the problem of our
reliance on fossil fuels."[2]
Notes
1. News report from Reuters (4 Dec
2000)
2. The US, Canada, Australia and Japan
push for the inclusion of so-called ‘Carbon
sinks’, such as forestry plantations, into
the Protocol. The carbon absorbed by sinks
would count as credits towards the CO2
reduction targets agreed in Kyoto. Scientists
dispute the amount of CO2 absorbed and the
permanence of sinks.
For more information contact:
Francis Macguire – Climate Expert – 0044
771 284 3460
Roger Higman – Climate Expert – 0044 771
284 3505
Martin Rocholl – FoEE Political
Co-ordinator – 02 542 01 80
Howard Mollett
Friends of the Earth Europe Press and
Information
Rue Blanche 29
Brussels, B-1060, Belgium
Tel: 32 2 542 01 89
Fax: 32 2 537 55 96
howard.mollett@foeeurope.org
Friends of the Earth Europe, the European
branch of Friends of the Earth International
(FoEI), is a network of 31 independent,
national environmental organisations in 30
European countries.
FoEE is the largest environmental network
in Europe working at grassroots level with
over 3000 local chapters.
"All that man knows, and
all that needs to be known, is known in
Schuman" A Vision, by William Butler
Yeats
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