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thursday, 19 july
2001
progress of negotiations
"We shall be as a City upon a hill. The
eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we
deal falsely with our God in this work we
have undertaken, and so cause us to withdraw
His present help from us, we shall be made a
story and a byword through the world"
Puritan John Winthrop, approaching
Massachussets Bay, 1630
Three days into the talks, and neither
hide nor hair has been seen in public of the
US delegation, led by Under Secretary of
State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky.
The US has failed to hold a press conference
to explain what it is doing in Bonn, or why
it has even turned up. Suspicions remain,
despite assurances given to Mr Pronk, that
not content with reneging on the Kyoto Treaty
it is also inciting "Umbrella Group"
countries to wreck the negotiations
altogether.
At the Hague, the EU insisted on two key
principles - (a) that there should no land
use activities (sinks) in industrialised
countries under article 3.4 and (b) that
these activities should be excluded from the
Clean Development Mechanism, which finances
these projects in developing countries. But
EU proposals tabled in Bonn are making
concessions apparently in response to
damaging plans proposed by Australia, Canada
and Japan - described by cynics as a
"hara-tree-ri" plan. Essentially, this plan
would allow every country to choose its own
definition of forests (which could presumably
include anything from old forests to
plantations to rows of shrubs), its own
criteria and categories of activities (which
could include anything from sheep herding to
genetically modified trees), and its own
limits on sinks. This last idea is similar to
giving an alcoholic the keys to a brewery,
and then expecting him to set his own limits
and still drive home safely. The EU has
effectively abandoned principle (a) by
suggesting that sinks be allowed subject to a
cap, and is now vague on principle (b).
Neither the EU nor the
Australia/Canada/Japanese proposals are based
on any sound scientific analysis of
permanence, verifiability or any of the other
key objections rightly raised by the EU when
similar proposals were made during the Hague
talks. They contain no safeguards to prevent
the development of widespread monoculture
plantations, "dead forests" that are already
replacing natural ecosystems such as real
forests, wetlands and savannahs in many parts
of the world. Canada has even attempted to
undermine the principle that Kyoto activities
should contribute to the conservation of
biodiversity, ironic since Canada is the host
country to the UN Secretariat of the
Biodiversity Convention.
The EU is believed to talking to Russia
about a Green Investment Scheme, which would
receive the proceeds of Russia's emissions
trading, including any trading with countries
that failed to ratify the Protocol. The
Scheme should provide funds for energy
efficiency and clean technology. Whether
nuclear projects could be funded under the
Scheme is not clear.
However, countries including India, Russia
and Japan are pushing hard for nuclear
projects to be permitted under both Joint
Implementation and the Clean Development
Mechanism.
On compliance and binding consequences,
Australia and Japan have opposed any
effective proposals, insisting that the
entire negotiating text be placed in
brackets. The EU at today's press conference
said that agreement on these issues would be
very difficult to achieve. The idea that
Kyoto could be in effect a voluntary
agreement is absurd. The EU must find the
nerve to insist that any agreement can be
both monitored and enforced.
The only significant area of progress so
far appears to be on finance. Increased
co-operation between the EU, G77 countries
and China is essential to the success of the
Bonn talks. Agreement is close on the rules
and management of the Global Environment
Facility's (GEF) climate change fund, but not
yet on the amount of money for developing
countries for adaption.
Tomorrow, Science magazine will publish a
major article on the recent increase in North
Atlantic Hurricane activity. It is expected
to show that the years 1995 to 2000 saw the
highest level of activity in the reliable
record. It is also expected to show that the
US East Coast can expect an increase in major
hurricane landfalls. Please note that the
Science article is embargoed for 8pm today
local time.
Commenting on the progress of the talks,
Friends of the Earth Environment Campaigner
Kate Hampton said:
"The Bonn talks are still bogged down in a
swamp created by the decision of the US to
renege on Kyoto and the attempts by Japan,
Australia, Canada and others to hold the
ratification process to ransom. Meanwhile the
scientific evidence for climate change grows
stronger every day. These talks must not be
about pettifogging point-scoring and
bureaucratic babble, and still less about
attempts by rich countries to pursue their
own selfish interests. They should be about
the safety and security of the planet, and
the people whose future depends on a stable
climate. The eyes of all people are indeed
upon us. Failure here will make the
responsible politicians a byword to future
generations - for neglect, arrogance and
complacency."
Contact
:
Ian Willmore 0174 160 4808 or 00 44 7887 641
344
Howard Mollett 00 41 792 160 206
Daniel Mittler (Lifeboat) 0173 923 4747
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