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From http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Science/2005/02/16/933005-cp.html
KYOTO, Japan (CP) - Amid fanfare marking the enactment of the Kyoto global warming pact, leading proponents laid out their next goals Wednesday: persuading the United States to join the world crackdown on emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases and planning further steps when the current agreement runs out in 2012.
The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in Japan's ancient capital in 1997, imposes legally binding requirements on 35 industrialized states to cut emissions of "greenhouse gases" blamed for rising world temperatures to an average of five per cent below 1990 levels. The treaty has been ratified by 140 countries, including Canada, officially went into force at midnight eastern standard time.
But the largest emitter of such gases, the United States, has refused to go along with the restrictions, saying they are flawed and could hurt its economy. Washington's absence loomed large over celebrations Wednesday in Kyoto, where environment ministers from member countries said progress would be limited without American participation.
"Climate change is a global problem and it can only be dealt with with a global approach," said Joke Waller-Hunter, the Dutch chief of the secretariat to the 1992 UN climate change treaty, to which the protocol is an adjunct.
Prime Minister Paul Martin said Wednesday that Canada would host an international conference on climate change in December.
The meeting will mark the beginning of discussions between countries to determine a longer term global approach on climate change after 2012, Martin said in Montreal, hours after the protocol went into effect.
"Taking on a leadership role by hosting this meeting is profoundly in Canada's best interest," said Martin.
The United States signed the protocol in 1997 under then-president Bill Clinton, but the Senate refused to ratify it. President George W. Bush renounced the agreement in 2001, and his government has expressed strong doubts about the link between gases believed to trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere and climate change.
No clear strategy has emerged on how to enlist U.S. participation. Several environmental officials voiced hopes that the increasing profitability of technologies and businesses targeted at reducing gas emissions would demonstrate that battling climate change could lead to new industries and jobs.
Thomas Becker, of Denmark's Environment Ministry, likened Washington's reluctance to join Kyoto to American automakers' failure to produce fuel-efficient cars in the 1970s. But he said the best advertisement for the pact would be its success.
"There is a market for climate-friendly technologies - it's a market rather than a burden," he said.
The United States argued that it was being environmentally responsible despite its opposition to Kyoto, with White House spokesman Scott McClellan saying Tuesday "we are still learning" about the science of climate change.
In the meantime, McClellan said, "We have made an unprecedented commitment to reduce the growth of greenhouse gas emissions in a way that continues to grow our economy."
Supporters of the pact say urgent action is needed. Average global temperatures rose about half a degree Celsius in the 20th century, and scientists say that has contributed to the thawing of the permafrost, rising ocean levels and extreme weather. Experts say further increases could seriously disrupt ecosystems, agriculture and human lifestyles.
In London, protesters with foghorns and whistles burst into the International Petroleum Exchange, disrupting oil trading in the world's second-largest energy futures market. Police said they arrested 10 people for public order offences.
Greenpeace spokesman Ben Stewart said the group was trying to highlight shortcomings of the Kyoto agreement, particularly what he called its "modest targets" for cuts.
"We need huge cuts if we are going to divert dangerous climate change," he said.
Much of the focus Wednesday was on what would follow Kyoto. The protocol, while praised as a landmark, is expected to have only a small effect on gas emissions, and many are urging even bigger steps - such as limits on pollution from airlines and other transport - once Kyoto expires in 2012.
Canada has no plan in place to meet its commitments under Kyoto. Environment Minister Stephane Dion said Tuesday the plan won't be spelled out in the Feb. 23 budget as had been widely expected, but "in the weeks after the budget."
He gave no deadline. Canada has agreed to a six per cent cut in greenhouse emissions from 1990 levels by 2008-2012.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said climate change was one of the biggest challenges facing mankind, and there was "no time to lose" in formulating post-Kyoto strategies.
"If this challenge is not addressed, sustainable development will be out of reach," he said in a message broadcast from UN headquarters.
But some speakers at Wednesday's celebration, held in the building where the pact was adopted, said U.S. opposition was hampering a vital effort to save the world from environmental danger.
Others said the absence of such a major polluter would make it more difficult to entice quickly developing states - such as China - to agree to eventual limits on their emissions.
The Europeans, the main proponents of the protocol, were hoping to make their case directly to Bush when he visits Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 22.
The Kyoto agreement was delayed by the requirement that countries accounting for 55 per cent of the world's emissions must ratify it. That goal was reached last year, nearly seven years after the pact was negotiated, with Russia's approval.
Kyoto's targets vary by region. The European Union is committed to cutting emissions to eight per cent below 1990 levels by 2012. Japan is committed to a six per cent reduction.
KYOTO, Japan (CP) - Amid fanfare marking the enactment of the Kyoto global warming pact, leading proponents laid out their next goals Wednesday: persuading the United States to join the world crackdown on emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases and planning further steps when the current agreement runs out in 2012.
The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in Japan's ancient capital in 1997, imposes legally binding requirements on 35 industrialized states to cut emissions of "greenhouse gases" blamed for rising world temperatures to an average of five per cent below 1990 levels. The treaty has been ratified by 140 countries, including Canada, officially went into force at midnight eastern standard time.
But the largest emitter of such gases, the United States, has refused to go along with the restrictions, saying they are flawed and could hurt its economy. Washington's absence loomed large over celebrations Wednesday in Kyoto, where environment ministers from member countries said progress would be limited without American participation.
"Climate change is a global problem and it can only be dealt with with a global approach," said Joke Waller-Hunter, the Dutch chief of the secretariat to the 1992 UN climate change treaty, to which the protocol is an adjunct.
Prime Minister Paul Martin said Wednesday that Canada would host an international conference on climate change in December.
The meeting will mark the beginning of discussions between countries to determine a longer term global approach on climate change after 2012, Martin said in Montreal, hours after the protocol went into effect.
"Taking on a leadership role by hosting this meeting is profoundly in Canada's best interest," said Martin.
The United States signed the protocol in 1997 under then-president Bill Clinton, but the Senate refused to ratify it. President George W. Bush renounced the agreement in 2001, and his government has expressed strong doubts about the link between gases believed to trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere and climate change.
No clear strategy has emerged on how to enlist U.S. participation. Several environmental officials voiced hopes that the increasing profitability of technologies and businesses targeted at reducing gas emissions would demonstrate that battling climate change could lead to new industries and jobs.
Thomas Becker, of Denmark's Environment Ministry, likened Washington's reluctance to join Kyoto to American automakers' failure to produce fuel-efficient cars in the 1970s. But he said the best advertisement for the pact would be its success.
"There is a market for climate-friendly technologies - it's a market rather than a burden," he said.
The United States argued that it was being environmentally responsible despite its opposition to Kyoto, with White House spokesman Scott McClellan saying Tuesday "we are still learning" about the science of climate change.
In the meantime, McClellan said, "We have made an unprecedented commitment to reduce the growth of greenhouse gas emissions in a way that continues to grow our economy."
Supporters of the pact say urgent action is needed. Average global temperatures rose about half a degree Celsius in the 20th century, and scientists say that has contributed to the thawing of the permafrost, rising ocean levels and extreme weather. Experts say further increases could seriously disrupt ecosystems, agriculture and human lifestyles.
In London, protesters with foghorns and whistles burst into the International Petroleum Exchange, disrupting oil trading in the world's second-largest energy futures market. Police said they arrested 10 people for public order offences.
Greenpeace spokesman Ben Stewart said the group was trying to highlight shortcomings of the Kyoto agreement, particularly what he called its "modest targets" for cuts.
"We need huge cuts if we are going to divert dangerous climate change," he said.
Much of the focus Wednesday was on what would follow Kyoto. The protocol, while praised as a landmark, is expected to have only a small effect on gas emissions, and many are urging even bigger steps - such as limits on pollution from airlines and other transport - once Kyoto expires in 2012.
Canada has no plan in place to meet its commitments under Kyoto. Environment Minister Stephane Dion said Tuesday the plan won't be spelled out in the Feb. 23 budget as had been widely expected, but "in the weeks after the budget."
He gave no deadline. Canada has agreed to a six per cent cut in greenhouse emissions from 1990 levels by 2008-2012.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said climate change was one of the biggest challenges facing mankind, and there was "no time to lose" in formulating post-Kyoto strategies.
"If this challenge is not addressed, sustainable development will be out of reach," he said in a message broadcast from UN headquarters.
But some speakers at Wednesday's celebration, held in the building where the pact was adopted, said U.S. opposition was hampering a vital effort to save the world from environmental danger.
Others said the absence of such a major polluter would make it more difficult to entice quickly developing states - such as China - to agree to eventual limits on their emissions.
The Europeans, the main proponents of the protocol, were hoping to make their case directly to Bush when he visits Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 22.
The Kyoto agreement was delayed by the requirement that countries accounting for 55 per cent of the world's emissions must ratify it. That goal was reached last year, nearly seven years after the pact was negotiated, with Russia's approval.
Kyoto's targets vary by region. The European Union is committed to cutting emissions to eight per cent below 1990 levels by 2012. Japan is committed to a six per cent reduction.
