London (Platts)--1Feb2008

The US-sponsored Major Economies Meeting on Energy Efficiency and Climate
Change ended Thursday with some plaudits for the US' more proactive stance,
but also recognition that differences of opinion remain over the future course
of climate change action.

The MEM was established in September by US President Bush, but at the
time was heavily criticized for distracting attention from UN-led efforts to
build a consensus for post-2012 global action.

However, representatives of the 15 major economies were at pains to
emphasize that the MEM process was being used to complement the UN talks,
which are charged with arriving at a final agreement on a successor to the
Kyoto Protocol by December 2009.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the two-day meeting in Hawaii, Jim
Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality said
the delegates at the meeting had "underscored the importance of rapid progress
in implementing the Bali Action Plan," adding that "we are all here together
in recognition that these meetings are intended to assist the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change toward a successful outcome."

French climate change ambassador Brice Lalonde praised the US for the
shift in its position. "We are happy that the position of the United States is
changing and we welcome this meeting, because it's a sign that the position
has changed," Lalonde said.

Lalonde said the US had been "a bit lagging," but added that the pace of
action in the US is picking up swiftly. "We are seeing that the United States
is discussing the matter, that is becoming central, that you have a lot of
bills in the Congress and that the administration is taking steps," he said.

"Of course, we are waiting for the next step, which would be that the
United States would also [set] a goal in reducing its greenhouse gases,
joining in that way all developed countries," Lalonde said.

His comments were echoed by German environment minister Matthias Machnig,
who underscored the importance of mandatory targets. "It's very important to
have an international regime with mandatory targets based under the umbrella
of the UN," he said.

Delegates were also at pains to point out that the MEM process, as well
as the UNFCCC talks, is a long-term process that will not yield immediate
results.

UK climate change minister Phil Woolas said: "There will not be a
specific meeting where a series of decisions will be taken, but the clock is
ticking until December 31, 2009. We have to have an agreement by then."

There remain also a number of differences of opinion that have to be
addressed, particularly on the key issue of whether developing countries are
prepared to take on a more demanding role in cutting emissions.

Xie Zhenhua of China's National Development and Reform Commission
conceded that "we also have some disagreement. For example, we have a
different understanding of the Bali Action Plan and we also have differences
in terms of how to implement this action."

The Bali Action Plan, agreed at the UN climate change conference in
December, called on developed countries to take on "quantified emission
limitation and reduction objectives," while asking developing nations to take
"measurable, reportable and verifiable nationally appropriate mitigation
actions."

"We did not really conduct very in-depth discussion about this aspect,"
Xie said. "For developing countries, we also need to take very active measures
to mitigate the GHG [emissions]. This is very clearly delineated, but we have
not reached an agreement in terms of quantity or the numbers."

The MEM was attended by representatives of the heads of government from
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy,
Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, South Africa, UK, and US as well as the
European Union and the UN.