[greenyes] Global Warming - US Statement at Buenos Aires

["Peter Anderson" <anderson@no.address>]

FINANCIAL TIMES (UK)

 US accused of undermining Kyoto principles
By Fiona Harvey in Buenos Aires
Published: December 16 2004 21:04 | Last updated: December 16 2004 21:04

The US tried yesterday to ensure that future additions to the Kyoto protocol 
on climate change should avoid committing nations to reducing their carbon 
dioxide emissions, a move that other countries see as an attempt to 
undermine the principles of the environmental treaty.

Paula Dobriansky, undersecretary of state, said it was "premature" to begin 
discussions of what should follow the current stage of the Kyoto protocol, 
the main provisions of which last only to 2012. She said: "We have 
programmes and initiatives [to tackle climate change] on the table and we 
need to concentrate on those programmes, not on future arrangements."

Ms Dobriansky said the US position did "not favour" mandatory goals for 
emissions reduction.

The question of what should follow the current protocol commitments in 2012 
has been one of the main areas of discussion at this year's climate change 
talks, taking place in Buenos Aires under the auspices of the 10-year-old UN 
framework convention that gave rise to the Kyoto agreement.

Ms Dobriansky rejected any form of compulsion in cutting greenhouse gases, 
or any role for regulation of emissions, telling the conference: "We believe 
the convention could serve more effectively as a form for guiding efforts, 
strengthening the exchange of information and reviewing progress rather than 
acting as a regulatory structure."

"..."

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