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G8 Global Warming Agreement Omits Specific Goals

Posted on: Friday, 8 July 2005, 06:00 CDT

GLENEAGLES, Scotland -- An agreement on climate change that will be released today at the close of a summit of world leaders here calls for finding "ways to achieve substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions" but does not include specific goals.

It falls short of one of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's objectives: legally binding limits on emissions that contribute to global warming. President Bush opposed such language. The issue has been a key one at the meeting of the Group of 8 (G8) major industrialized nations. The group consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Before Blair left to manage response to the terrorist attacks Thursday in London, he said, "We're not going to negotiate some new treaty on climate change ... but it's important that we at least begin a process of dialogue."

An advance text of the agreement was obtained by environmental groups, including the National Environmental Trust and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). It says climate change is a "serious long-term challenge" and calls for energy-efficient technology, raising awareness and helping developing countries share cleaner technology.

The agreement says, "We know that increased need and use of energy from fossil fuels and other human activities contribute in large part to increases in greenhouse gases associated with the warming of our earth surface."

In recent public statements, Bush has endorsed that view for the first time.

The agreement includes an implicit rebuke of Bush in its support of the 1997 Kyoto treaty, which set limits for future emissions and was ratified by every G8 member country except the United States.

"Those of us who have ratified the Kyoto protocol welcome its entry into force and will work to make it a success," the agreement reads.

U.S. deputy national security adviser Faryar Shirzad said the leaders found "common ground on the climate issue." The agreement, he said, "reflects a series of goals that the president has long advocated," including viewing climate change in the context of economic development and energy security.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said the leaders made considerable progress in defining "the necessity of dealing with" climate change. French President Jacques Chirac said that even if the agreement "does not go as far as we would have liked," it re-establishes discussions on the issue.

Environmental groups were scornful. "The agreement is utterly meaningless -- the weakest statement on climate change ever made by the G8," said Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust.

"The G8 leaders did not agree on a single concrete action," he said.

Source: USA TODAY

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