MEXICO: China accuses some countries at the U.N. climate talks of trying to kill the Kyoto Protocol

Record ID: 260636

  • Title: MEXICO: China accuses some countries at the U.N. climate talks of trying to kill the Kyoto Protocol
  • Date: 4th December 2010
  • Summary: FEET OF PEOPLE MARCHING VARIOUS OF POSTERS AND GLOBE
  • Embargoed: 19th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: International Relations,Environment / Natural World
  • Reuters ID: LVAA6XBVTGHMT1DKX0VMT48WEMKA
  • Story Text: China accused some nations on Friday (December 3) at the U.N. climate talks of seeking to kill the Kyoto Protocol pact for slowing global warming after Japan said it would not agree to extend carbon cuts under the deal.
    "Frankly speaking, now we are even more worried about the future of two track KP (Kyoto Protocol). Some countries, so far, still don't like KP, and they want to kill KP, so this is a very worrying moment. To us, it is quite clear, KP is the milestone of our efforts to combat climate change," Huang Huikang, a special representative for climate change negotiations at China's foreign ministry, told a news conference at the November 29-to-December 10 climate talks in Mexico.
    "In any balanced outcome to be produced in international climate change negotiations, there must be continuation of KP, there must have second commitment period. Without these elements, there would be no balanced outcome at all," he added.
    He said the question of whether the 1997 Kyoto pact will survive was the main hurdle at the annual conference, which is seeking to agree to a modest package of measures to slow climate change after a 2009 summit in Copenhagen failed to work out a treaty.
    Kyoto binds almost 40 developed nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions until 2012 and commits parties to an extension.
    But Japan has been adamant that other major emitters, including China and the United States have to join in a new, broader U.N. treaty to help slow what the U.N. panel of climate scientists says will be rising temperatures with desertification, droughts, floods and rising seas.
    The United States never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, so its backers account for just 27 percent of world emissions. A huge puzzle remains to design a new deal that would satisfy both rich and poor countries.
    U.S. Climate Change Envoy Todd Stern said it would be a mistake if differing stances of the Kyoto Protocol brought the talks to a standstill.
    "I mean that, it may be that the problems with Kyoto will completely tie this conference up. I am very hopeful that that doesn't happen because I think that will be a big mistake. With respects to ... you asked if the United States would be happy to have a 2012 world without a legally binding agreement. It's not a question of being happy, it is a question of trying to see what can be done in the real world that can make progress on this issue," he said.
    Stern said that progress could continue to be made even if a non-binding agreement was reached in Cancun.
    "And I think you could continue to move forward on that basis, and many countries, I know, feel that that is an imperfect basis because it is not a legally binding agreement. And that's probably true, but you can't always get for some period of time and it is a good idea to make the progress you can make in our view," Stern said.
    Developing countries favor the Protocol, which makes a clear distinction between industrialized and emerging economies, while many developed countries want a new agreement to include all major emitters.
    The European Union repeated its stance that there was no point in it committing to a second term if other developed countries were not part of it.
    "We have clearly said that we are attached to the Kyoto Protocol's architecture, it is robust and solid, but we have also said that the emissions from the European Union currently, only covering about 12 percent of global emissions, there is no sense in the European Union being the only one covered by such an architecture," Climate Negotiator Peter Wittoeck.
    Venezuela and Bolivia said it was "unacceptable" that several developed countries had told them there could be no agreement on new emissions targets at the round of U.N. climate talks.
    Meanwhile, hundreds of environmental activists marched in Mexico City to demand the government adopt green policies.
    Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo said the crisis could be turned into an opportunity.
    "Time is running out very, very fast. The future of our children and grandchildren is at stake. We can turn this crisis into an opportunity by investing seriously in renewable energy; not only will we help the climate, but we can also generate millions of clean, new jobs in a renewable energy sector," he said.
    Carbon emissions trading markets want assurances of policies beyond 2012 to guide investments. The International Energy Agency says $18 trillion needs to be spent by 2030 to ensure a shift from fossil fuels towards cleaner energies.
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