Washington (Platts)--27Sep2007

The Bush administration on Thursday proposed a 50% cut in greenhouse gas
emissions compared with 2005 levels as a starting point for US-led talks
between 18 countries that want to jumpstart negotiations for a successor
framework to the Kyoto Protocol.

     The target, which the White House views as "aspirational" and voluntary,
is well above levels proposed by other governments within the last week,
including a plan by the European Union for mandatory GHGs cuts of 50% below
1990 levels.

     White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton
included the target in slides he presented during opening remarks to
negotiators who also participated in related talks at United Nations talks in
New York Monday. 

     Both the New York meeting and the US-led summit are designed to lay the
groundwork for two weeks of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change talks in
December in Bali, Indonesia.

     The US proposal appears to be based on an assumed atmospheric GHG
concentration of 490 parts per million by 2050. EU officials and many
scientists are advocating as 450 ppm as the concentration that would avoid
"dangerous human interference" with the climate.

     Even with the US-favored target, which the slides cite as one possible
scenario, Connaughton portrayed the GHG cuts needed to achieve that target as
massive. He said the US approach requires a 25 billion metric ton reduction in
CO2 emissions. For context, Connaughton noted that 250 average-sized
coal-fired power plants in the US emit about 1 billion metric tons of CO2
equivalent annually.

     Connaughton also noted that the 18 countries, which US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice noted in remarks emit about 80% of global GHGs, have
different priorities for cutting emissions.

     The US and China must deal with GHGs from coal-fired power plants while
Indonesia and Brazil are more focused on curbing deforestation, which accounts
for nearly 25% of total GHGs each year.

     "We have many different perspectives, but we have a shared goal,"
Connaughton said.

     Rice urged delegates to achieve three objectives at the two-day summit.
Set a long-term GHG target, mid-term national targets based on different
policies and develop low-carbon technologies with the private sector. "All
nations should tackle climate change in a way they think best," she said.

     Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UNFCCC, said the delegates to
the summit must give "a meaningful contribution" to the Bali talks. "Bali will
have to set out a negotiating agenda for the next two years" for a Kyoto
treaty successor, he said.

     The post-Kyoto framework requires "a strong commitment by industrialized
countries" to lead the world in emissions cuts and developing countries should
consider "voluntary sectoral targets" as one option. He reiterated the need
for the post-Kyoto deal to include "common but differentiated
responsibilities" embodied in the UNFCCC.

     The future agreement should include mechanisms for funding further GHG
cuts and adapting to climate change that is expected to occur, de Boer said.

		--Martin Coyne, martin_coyne@platts.com
		--Gerry Karey, gerry_karey@platts.com