Breakthrough as US joins climate talks

December 12 2005

AMERICAN delegates have signed up to talks on long-term measures to tackle global warming in what is seen as a major breakthrough on climate change.

The refusal of the US government to accept any deal involving a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions appeared to have killed off any chance of a breakthrough at the summit in Canada over the weekend.
US delegates walked out of the climate change conference in Montreal, but they later returned and agreed to sign up to non-binding talks.

The acceptance of the American government to bow to world pressure and finally take part in multilateral talks on global warming is seen as a breakthrough. It was welcomed by environmental groups.

Bill Hare, of Greenpeace International, said: "The Bush administration blinked. The world should remember that."
The U-turn came after years of intransigence and foot-dragging over the issue of pollution and global warming.
Since pulling out four years ago from the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement for cutting pollution which contributes to global warming, the US government has refused to co-operate in multilateral talks.

American delegates walked out of the Montreal talks without reaching agreement, but then, according to Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary who led the British delegation, a series of telephone calls between London and Washington resulted in them rejoining the talks.

When they returned, the US delegation agreed to sign up to non-binding talks on long-term measures to tackle global warming.

Mrs Beckett believed just an hour before the deal was reached in the early hours of Saturday morning that the talks were going to end in failure.

Speaking on the BBC's Sunday AM programme, she said the Americans were nervous about the text of the agreement.
She added: "Once they saw what had been agreed overnight, they realised that actually what we had all been telling them right the way through, which is that there was a goodwill on the part of the negotiators of the world to re-engage the United States constructively, they looked at the text and they saw that was true.

"They then suggested some other minor amendments that would make it more comfortable for them and that is why, in the end, we got agreement."

Mrs Beckett would not confirm yesterday whether the British intervention was carried out personally by the prime minister.

The other key achievement at Montreal was that countries which have signed up to the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions agreed to set new targets when the treaty expires in 2012.

Ms Beckett denied the overall outcome of the meeting had been "overhyped", insisting it represented a "diplomatic triumph" and claiming it was a major achievement to bring 189 countries together in agreement after two weeks of talks.
She said: "It has taken all year and a massive effort on the part of everybody involved from the prime minister on down, but we got there. We got everything we set out to get at the beginning. And that doesn't happen very often."

Questions on Kyoto answered
Questions on Kyoto answered The acceptance of the Americans to re-engage with the world on global warming for the first time since they pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol four years ago is widely seen as an important breakthrough in tackling greenhouse gas emissions.

What is the Kyoto Protocol?
An agreement between industrialised countries which sets out targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, believed to contribute to global warming.

What are the targets?
The signatories to the treaty agreed in 1997 to cut their combined emissions by 5% below 1990 levels by 2012, but each country has its own individual targets. Countries within the EU have signed up to cut emissions by 8%, while some less developed countries with low emissions have been granted permission to increase them.

Which major greenhouse gas producing countries have not ratified Kyoto?
The two most significant industrialised countries which have not agreed to ratify the treaty are the US and Australia, although Russia recently signed up.

Why did the US pull out of Kyoto?
It was claimed that the Kyoto emission targets would seriously damage the American economy. The position of the US in recent years has been to refuse to take part in multilateral talks concerning reducing greenhouse gases.

What does the agreement in Montreal mean in practice?
The fact that the US has re-engaged with the rest of the world on climate change is significant within the context of its previous policy of considering global warming on a unilateral basis, but no firm commitment was made.

All the US government has agreed to do is to take part in multilateral talks on long term-measures for tackling global warming, but will not be bound by them. America is seen as crucial in any initiative to curb greenhouse gases as it is the world's largest producer of them.

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