November 21, 2000

Loy Cites U.S. Flexibility
on Climate Change

By Jim Fuller
Washington File Science Correspondent

The Hague -- U.S. chief negotiator Frank Loy told delegates from more than 160 countries trying to finalize a climate change treaty that the United States is willing to be flexible on its positions in the negotiations, but will not sacrifice its core principles -- which demand an agreement that is cost-effective and has environmental integrity.

"We stand ready to make reasonable compromises," Loy said in a formal statement delivered November 21 to top-level environmental ministers who have gathered in The Hague for the second and final week of crucial treaty negotiations. "We are waiting for others to do so as well. And time is growing short."

The negotiators are hoping to lay down the rules and procedures for implementing cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases -- primarily carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels -- that were agreed upon in the Kyoto Protocol three years ago in Japan.

The protocol, which has not yet been ratified by any industrialized countries, calls for the worldwide reduction in emissions of these heat-trapping gases by an average of 5.2 percent from their 1990 levels by 2012. The main burden will fall on major industrialized countries like the United States, which would be required to reduce its emissions by 7 percent.

Loy told the ministers that it is not willing to undermine the innovative features of the Kyoto Protocol that are essential to achieving these emissions reduction targets.

"Let us not forget that we agreed in Kyoto on the use of emissions trading -- because it is a proven way to spur innovation and produce cost-effective emissions cuts," he said. "We agreed in Kyoto to take sinks into account -- because they are in fact a critical component of our climate system.

"These are not loopholes or eleventh hour gimmicks," Loy added. "Rather, they are integral features of a comprehensive framework that reflects the physical, political and economic realities that we face."

Emissions trading provides a cost-effective mechanism whereby countries that can reduce their emissions relatively inexpensively will be able to sell or trade their excess emission credits to countries where reducing emissions is more expensive. The protocol also allows so-called sinks -- such as forests and agricultural lands that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere -- to be counted toward a country's emissions reduction commitments.

Loy also called for a "robust" clean development mechanism (CDM) to assist developing countries along the path of sustainable development. CDM would permit developed countries or their industries to sponsor developing country projects, such as power plants, that reduce greenhouse gases. The investor can then earn emissions reduction credits if the projects are approved by a CDM executive board.

Loy told reporters November 21 that ministers at The Hague conference are now entering the most difficult part of the negotiations -- trying to reach agreement on rules and procedures that will allow these mechanisms to work.

"It's time now that we commit ourselves to a really pragmatic, and not a dogmatic approach," he said. "We are well past the time for harsh rhetoric ... we have got to make a deal. What we need for that deal is willingness on all sides to engage in genuine give-and-take."

Loy said U.S. negotiators have been showing considerable flexibility on a number of its positions in an attempt to reach an agreement. He said that in previous climate change negotiations, going back several years, the United States had insisted that developing countries participate in global efforts to limit the production of carbon emissions by taking on so-called "growth targets" -- targets that would not hurt their economies. But developing countries all along have adamantly refused to consider any limits on their greenhouse gas emissions.

"So we have made it clear at this meeting that we are not seeking those commitments from those countries," Loy said. "The reason for that is largely that many of those countries have said they're not ready to do that and it has not seemed to us useful (to pursue it). That is one example of a significant modification of our position in recent days."

Loy said that U.S. negotiators have also shown considerable flexibility on sinks when they announced November 20 that the United States would be willing to limit its use of forest projects to reach its target under the protocol for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

So rather than insisting that all carbon dioxide emissions captured in U.S. forests be counted, the new proposal says the United States should get full credit for the first 20 million metric tons of carbon absorbed by forests annually, and credit for only one-third of any carbon soaked up beyond that amount. U.S. delegates said the new plan would satisfy only about 20 percent of the total American obligation for reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

The U.S. proposal to significantly reduce emissions reduction credits provided by sinks -- considered a major concession by many at the conference -- was largely made to overcome objections by the European Union (EU), which up to now has refused to allow huge credits for forested lands.

But EU negotiators have also reacted coolly to the new plan, saying it was too vague and that it feared the United States would claim an unacceptable amount of credits for such lands. In a formal statement delivered at the ministerial session on November 21, the EU representative referred to the scientific uncertainty and risks related to sinks.

"Decisions taken here on forestry and land-use have the potential to make the reduction targets agreed upon in Kyoto meaningless," she said. "Carbon storage from existing forest alone amounts to about four times the emission reduction target of all" developed countries.

U.S. House Science Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, who heads a Congressional delegation at the conference, told reporters there is little chance of the Senate ratifying the Kyoto Protocol as it currently stands. Sensenbrenner said the Byrd-Hagel resolution, unanimously passed by the Senate three years ago, sets the "bare minimal standards" needed for Senate ratification.

"The Kyoto Protocol has already failed one of these standards -- namely, no developing country participation," he said. "In order to begin addressing the second basic standard -- no serious economic harm to the U.S. economy -- there must be full and unfettered use of the so-called ... sinks." He added, however, that the European Union and its allies are working to limit the use of sinks.

"Until these and other fundamental flaws in the Kyoto Protocol are addressed ... I don't see how (this conference) will produce a treaty acceptable to the people of the United States," he said.