US to join fight against climate change-G8 ministers
Source: Reuters
By Louis Charbonneau POTSDAM, Germany, March 16 (Reuters) - The United States will inevitably fall in step with the rest of the world in the push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, several G8 environment ministers said on Friday. The ministers met to try to prepare the ground for a meeting in June of leaders from the Group of Eight (G8) powers, which will be hosted by Germany in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm. Climate change will be a top item on the agenda at the summit. "I think it's a matter of when, not if the United States becomes part of the global drive to reduce emissions," British Environment Minister David Miliband said at a meeting of top environment officials from the G8 industrialised nations and leading developing countries. "I think it's very important that the United States is part of that drive, obviously, because it's not going to succeed without them," Miliband told reporters. German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who is presiding over the meeting on behalf of Germany's G8 presidency, echoed Miliband's comments. But he said no breakthroughs could be expected at the two-day meeting in Potsdam. Top environment officials from the G8 -- the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia -- and counterparts from China, India, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico aim to use the Potsdam gathering to bridge the wide gaps in views on climate change between the rich and developing states. "The differences are still marked," said Gabriel. The United States has been criticised for years for pulling out of the U.N. Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 2001. Developing countries cite the U.S. position as a ground for their refusal of emissions reduction targets. But recently the United States has sent signals that it may be re-evaluating its position on slashing carbon emissions. U.S. SAYS WANTS TO REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS The top U.S. delegate, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Stephen L. Johnson, said reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions was a key item on the agenda of President George W. Bush. "The president has made it very clear that he's committed to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States," Johnson told Reuters in an interview. The Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 and the U.S. position will be key in negotiating post-Kyoto emissions targets. In the European Union, companies exceeding individual CO2 emissions limits can buy unused permits from firms that have come under their emission allowance. This trading scheme is how the EU has been meeting its Kyoto Protocol obligations. Germany has suggested that it would like to make emissions trading a global financial market. Asked if the United States would want to join, Johnson made it clear this was no priority. "Our focus is working not only domestically but also internationally for the advancement of technologies that actually address greenhouse gas emissions," he said. Underlining the reality of climate change, the U.S. government agency that tracks weather reported it has been the warmest winter since record-keeping began over a century ago. Johnson said the report showed "importance of the president's commitment to addressing climate change."
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