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Leadership needed from US
15/12/2007 12:27 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The US commitment to join the Bali climate conference was an important step but more still needed to be done, Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Saturday.
"What we expect from them [the US] is a quantum leap to eventually accept internationally agreed and binding targets. Developing countries demonstrated real leadership in Bali," Van Schalkwyk said.
"It is now over to the US to demonstrate leadership and take their fair share of responsibility," he said.
For 13 days more than 180 nations gathered in Bali to discuss the future of the global climate.
They agreed, among others, to a launching of an Adaptation Fund, a shift of emphasis in the debate on technology transfer and a launching of a climate-friendly technologies programme.
Van Schalkwyk said the programmes bode well for the path from Bali to the conclusion of negotiations on the future of the global climate pact by 2009.
"The US committed to joining negotiations with a view to taking credible emission reduction commitments that are comparable to the efforts of other developed countries," he said.
He said the talks were not easy, but everybody lived up to the challenge.
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