24 November 2000

U.S. Negotiators Unhappy with Compromise Proposal at Climate Talks

U.S. continues to negotiate on key issues

By Jim Fuller
Washington File Science Correspondent

The Hague -- Frank Loy, under secretary of state for global affairs, has called "unacceptably imbalanced" a compromise proposal seeking to reinvigorate climate talks that have become deadlocked over the key issues on a strategy to avert global warming.

With the U.N. climate conference nearing an end in The Hague and delegates unable to reach agreement on how to cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, the president of the conference, Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk, put forward late November 23 the outline of plan that might provide a potential compromise. Pronk said the proposal is intended to be used only as a basis for further negotiations.

"We do not have much time," Pronk said, following release of the proposal. "Major issues have still to be resolved. There has been a greater divergence of opinions than could have been expected." Pronk added that his compromise plan requires all sides to make sacrifices.

The plan, which delegates will focus on during the final day of negotiations, puts limits on at least two mechanisms that the United States strongly supports as means to reach its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. Greenhouse gases -- mainly carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels -- are blamed for causing global warming.

In a brief prepared statement released November 24, Loy said that while the United States "is deeply disappointed with Minister Pronk's paper, which we consider unacceptably imbalanced, we are pursuing every opportunity to reach a good agreement here at The Hague. We continue to negotiate with the aim of moving forward on key issues in the fight against global warming."

Loy also said in the statement that the U.S. delegation press briefing scheduled for November 24 was being cancelled because "the situation is very fluid, and I do not feel the negotiations would benefit from any detailed airing of the issues at this stage."

The Kyoto Protocol, a treaty negotiated in 1997, calls on developed countries to collectively reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Under the treaty, the United States would cut emissions by 7 percent below 1990 levels, Europe 8 percent and Japan 6 percent.

While the agreement has not been ratified yet by any industrialized country, the talks in The Hague are supposed to set rules countries would follow to meet the Kyoto reductions.

The Pronk compromise plan suggests limiting the use of so-called carbon "sinks" -- existing forests and agricultural lands that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The proposed limits would cut in half the emissions reduction credits from sinks currently sought by the United States.

U.S. negotiators had originally argued that the United States be able to claim credit for disposal of 300 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually through the use of sinks. During The Hague negotiations, U.S. negotiators dropped that amount to 125 million metric tons. If U.S. negotiators accept the formula suggested in the Pronk proposal, it would mean settling for less than half that latter figure, or about 50 million metric tons.

The Pronk proposal also suggests that countries achieve at least half of their emissions cuts through domestic programs that scale back the burning of fossil fuels in power plants, factories and cars -- rather than through international emissions trading. U.S. negotiators have been pressing for unlimited emissions trading, which would allow companies to buy and sell carbon credits or invest in clean technologies abroad to reach emissions reduction targets.

Since the beginning of the negotiations, the United States and the European Union (EU) have remained divided on these key protocol provisions -- the amount of credit a country could get by investing in climate-protection projects abroad and how much credit toward emissions cuts could be gained by using forests to absorb carbon dioxide.

With regard to sinks, EU negotiators told reporters November 24 that even the latest Pronk proposal significantly reducing the amount of emissions reduction credits a country could claim for carbon absorbed by vegetation was still too generous. They argued that the intention in the protocol is to use alternatives like sinks as a supplement to domestic programs that spur actual emissions reductions by having power plants and factories switch to cleaner and more efficient fuels.

Environmental non-governmental organizations attending the conference severely criticized the Pronk plan, saying it would allow the United States and other countries to avoid making physical cuts in emissions at home. "This represents a major weakening of the Kyoto treaty," said a statement released by Friends of the Earth.

U.S. negotiators have argued that only through the use of sinks and unlimited emissions trading can the United States reach its emissions reduction targets called for by the Kyoto Protocol. They have also repeatedly emphasized that the United States is making steady and significant progress in efforts to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions-- even at a time of unprecedented strong economic growth.

"In each of the last two years, while our gross domestic product grew by over 4 percent, the greenhouse gases grew by under 1 percent," Loy told reporters at the conference. "That is a significant change in relationship from ... the 1980s and the earlier part of the 1990s. New initiatives that we launched over the last year promise even greater progress in the years ahead."

Loy said the U.S. goal at The Hague is to reach an environmentally sound and cost-effective treaty that can be ratified. "Our priorities include strong rules that will ensure real emission reductions and no restrictions on the use of the flexibility mechanisms" such as emissions trading, he said. "We look for an airtight accounting system; binding legal consequences for failure to meet targets; and appropriate credit for forest and agricultural sinks."

The Pronk plan also includes a proposal put forward by the United States, Japan, Canada and several other nations calling on all developed countries to provide new funding to help developing nations with the transfer of energy-efficient technology and efforts to adapt to the adverse impacts of global warming, such as a rise in sea level. The new mechanism would provide for a steady stream of annual funding -- up to $1,000 million by the period 2008 to 2012 -- to support developing country efforts. The new financial mechanism would use new money rather than redirecting existing programs.