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US opposes Kyoto extension
30/11/2005 10:22 - (SA)
Montreal - The United States on Tuesday opposed any talk of extending Kyoto-style limits on greenhouse gas emissions, angering activists at a United Nations climate change meeting.
Some 10 000 delegates and members of environmental groups are meeting here until December 9 as part of the UN Climate Change Conference on and what comes after the Kyoto accord, which expires in 2012.
"The United States is opposed to any such discussions," said Harlan Watson, head of the US delegation.
He said Americans did not want an approach including objectives or a timetable to reduce the emissions.
The US refused to ratify the Kyoto agreement, which called for reductions by 6%of emissions from their 1990 levels, saying the reductions applied more stringently to developed countries than to developing ones.
Trying to reduce emissions
Washington has since 2002 embarked on a policy to reduce its emissions by 18%, he said, without devastating the US economy. Watson praised the success of measures put in place by US President George W Bush.
The US, with 5% of the world's population, emits 25% of the world's greenhouse gases. The US counts more on targeted and bilateral agreements than on international accords to address the prickly issue of climate change.
"Delegates say there are lot of issues on the agenda but there is only one real problem: the United States," said Bill Hare, head of climate change policy for Greenpeace.
"This is an irresponsible position," he said.
High temperatures worry scientists
After an opening statement, the chairperson of the meeting, Canada's environment minister Stephane Dion, said, "Let us set our sights on an effective, more inclusive, long-term international approach to climate change."
Canada Greenpeace representative Steven Guilbeault sent a message to Dion, inviting him to "sideline the Americans" to assure the "success of the Montreal meeting".
Greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide, which is generated by burning of fossil fuels like gas, oil and coal, enlarge an atmospheric layer that blocks radiant heat from escaping earth and into space.
Scientists worry the resulting increased temperatures are melting polar ice caps and heating tropical seas, with unknown and possibly disastrous consequences for earth's weather, flora and fauna.
- AFP
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