Nando Times

Climate conference delegates reject compromise on greenhouse gas reduction

By JEROME SOCOLOVSKY, Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (November 24, 2000 7:49 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Digging in their heels despite a looming deadline, delegates at global warming talks Friday rejected a late compromise proposal as a sellout to the United States.

"We want the success of this conference," said German Environment Minister Juergen Tritten. "But the benchmark for us is environmental integrity."

Negotiators from more than 180 countries are under pressure to strike a deal on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that scientist say are heating up the earth's atmosphere.

Delegations are considering an array of proposals aimed at helping countries meet reductions targets without antagonizing poor or rich countries, major industries or environmental groups.

The talks stalled Thursday over a U.S. demand to get credit for greenhouse gas "sinks" - forests, farmland and other vegetation which naturally absorb carbon dioxide.

The proposed compromise was put forward by the conference chairman, Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk, after the meeting deadlocked.

"Now is the time to strike a deal," the chairman told a news conference Thursday night.

Many delegates said the proposal caved in to the "Umbrella Group," a U.S.-led bloc including Canada, Japan, Australia and a few other countries that would benefit from the sinks proposal.

"Some of us thought yesterday Thanksgiving turned into 'sinks-giving,"' Tritten half-joked.

He said the proposal was so watered down that it was "weaker than the text of the Kyoto Protocol," a 1997 treaty that set targets for global emissions reductions.

"Our concern is that the rules would allow countries to selectively count credits for land use projects or activities that deliver no new benefit to the atmosphere," said New Zealand delegate Pete Hodgson.

Negotiators, who began their talks on Nov. 13, have until Saturday to agree on ways of meeting targets for emissions cuts.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, worldwide emissions of heat-trapping gases must decline to 5.2 percent below their 1990 levels by 2012.

Carbon dioxide and other gases that store heat in the atmosphere are primarily produced by cars, power plants and factories.

Scientists believe a slight rise in earth's average temperature is already thawing polar ice caps, flooding low-lying islands in the sea and may be linked to hurricanes, desertification, and other extreme weather events.

According to Pronk's proposal, sinks in the United States would count for 60 million tons of carbon-based gas emissions. That is about 10 percent of its required cut - half of what the U.S. wanted.

Environmentalists also criticized an emissions "trading" mechanism that would waive a significant portion of the emissions cuts in industrialized countries if they backed cleanup projects in the developing world.

(end of article)

To keep this somewhat on topic, greenhouse owners are saying they might have to go out of business because they can no longer afford the high heating costs.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), November 24, 2000

Answers

What is the intent of your comment at the end of the article, Rachel? What is it you were trying to say?

-- vicki (smithfox@mind.net), November 24, 2000.

I was referring to the original meaning of the word "greenhouse," perhaps known in some countries as "hothouse." They're called the former in Canada, and some owners of the large commercial ones in B.C. say they are going under because they cannot afford the rising heating costs as we enter the colder months. For those who do stay in business, the price of their products/produce will definitely rise to reflect that higher heating cost.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), November 24, 2000.