Delegates rise to applaud the decision to adopt the "Bali roadmap" for a future international agreement on climate change. http://unfccc.int/2860.php
US negotiators said they recognized the seriousness of the scientific reports. Yet they were reluctant to even talk about specific commitments or actions to cut emissions in the post-Kyoto period. The EU - and other industrialized countries that made binding commitments to emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol - agreed to cut their emissions by between 25 and 40 percent by 2020. The EU, led by Germany, pressed unsuccessfully for a similar commitment by the US, which earlier backed out of the Kyoto Protocol. Instead, the US handed out invitations to its own parallel process discussing voluntary measures to be taken by the governments of "major economies" (including China and India, which will soon surpass the US in total - but not per capita - greenhouse gas emissions).
Towards the end of the conference, Al Gore arrived in Bali - after accepting the Nobel peace prize, along with the scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In a passionate speech, he said that the US was principally responsible for blocking progress on battling climate change at Bali, and urged the delegations to agree on language that could be build upon after a new US administration is in place in January 2009. (The agreement for the post-Kyoto agreement is expected to be finalized by 2009, so it can be ratified by governments and enter into force by 2012.)
The governments of developing countries are also reluctant to undertake binding emission limits, because they need economic growth to rise out of poverty, and because they perceive that the US is not taking the lead on reducing its own climate emissions. Su Wei, a member of the Chinese delegation in Bali said: "I just wonder whether it's fair to ask developing countries like China to take on binding targets," Su said Friday. "I think there is much room for the United States to think whether it's possible to change (its) lifestyle and consumption patterns in order to contribute to the protection of the global climate." www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf
Though not agreeing to binding emissions limits, China was widely viewed as a positive force at the conference. Developing countries expressed their willingness to pursue more carbon-friendly development strategies. But they also sought commitments from developed countries on transfers of clean technologies to help them cut emissions, and funding from industrialised states to help them adapt to the threats of rising seas, more frequent extreme weather events, falling crop yields and increased migration.
In overnight talks lasting beyond the planned Friday deadline, India (representing the group of developing countries and China) presented draft language committing themselves to 'nationally appropriate mitigation actions' in the context of sustainable development, if they were supported by developed countries with technology and enabled by finance and capacity building 'in a measurable, reportable and verifiable manner'. This text was supported by the EU, but the US delegation would not agree - and was thereupon loudly booed by the other delegations, in an unprecedented show of undiplomatic behavior. After Japan made a noncommittal statement, and Canada and Australia remained silent, the head of the US delegation, Paula Dobriansky relented, saying, "We will join the consensus."
However, shortly afterwards, the White House began voicing reservations. A White House official told of “serious concerns” that the agreement had let developing countries off too lightly in their commitments to cut emissions, saying “Emissions reductions principally by the developed world will be insufficient to confront the global problem effectively.” European officials expressed astonishment at this, saying the US delegation was in near-continuous contact with Washington in the final hours of negotiations, even while agreeing to the wording of the text that described developing countries’ future obligations. “It’s extraordinary to try to go back on this." Later, a senior US official told the Financial Times: “I would not regard the White House statement as backing away from the consensus.” He said “it is focused on what has to happen next”. www.ft.com
Bloomberg in Bali. After a trip to China and speeches in Shanghai and Beijing, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg arrived in Bali. Speaking for the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) - Local Governments for Sustainability initiative. On Thursday, December 13, while James Connoughton from the White House Council on Environmental Quality defended the US delegation's refusal to embrace aggressive emission limitation targets, claiming they were premature, Bloomberg was in a nearby hotel arguing the opposite. "People everywhere recognize the time for discussion about whether global warming exists has passed," said Bloomberg, who has called for the implementation of a carbon tax. "Now it's time for action." And Bloomberg could point to the fact that over 700 U.S. cities have signed up to meet Kyoto Protocol-style carbon cuts, while California has mandated a 25% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. " www.time.com/time/world
In his Bali speech, Bloomberg outlined New York City's plan to reduce global warming emissions by 30% by the year 2030. "We'll do that by working with our partners in State government to develop a pilot congestion pricing program. We'll create incentives to replace old, polluting power plants with new ones using cleaner-burning fuels. We'll plant one million new trees across our city in the next ten years. Just this week, we took steps to ensure that by the year 2012, our city's 13,000 taxicabs will be hybrid or hybrid-equivalents. That alone will cut New York City's carbon emissions by nearly half a percentage point, and save each cabdriver almost $5,000 a year in fuel costs." See the full text at www.nyc.gov
In Beijing, Mayor Bloomberg announced an invitation to representatives from more than 20 of the world's major cities to come to New York next year for a two-day conference organized by New York City Global Partners. It will address common urban challenges, including reducing urban air pollution and curbing climate change, with input by experts from around the world in transportation, city planning, public health, and other disciplines.
- Gail Karlsson, Citizens Network for Sustainable Development (CitNet)
