It's developed vs developing nations at Bali meet

The U.N. chief said Wednesday that guidelines on greenhouse gas emissions cuts opposed by the United States may be ``too ambitious'' to include in a final statement from the climate conference in Bali.

Drafts of the conference statement obtained by The Associated Press this week have included a call for industrialized countries to consider cutting emissions blamed for global warming by between 25 percent and 40 percent by 2020.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, however, said such goals might have to wait for subsequent negotiations when asked about steadfast opposition by the United States, though at some point targets for emissions cuts would be necessary.

``Realistically, it may be too ambitious'' at the Bali conference, Ban told reporters, while urging Washington to be flexible. Later he added: ``Practically speaking, this will have to be negotiated down the road.''

The European Union and developing nations strongly favor the guidelines, which they say are needed to avoid a devastating rise in world temperatures above 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over preindustrial levels.

The United States, however, has argued strenuously at Bali that including such language in the final document would prejudice negotiations over the next two years aimed at crafting a new global warming pact to take effect in 2012.

``The reality in this business is that once numbers appear in the text, it prejudges the outcome and will tend to drive the negotiations in one direction,'' said Harlan Watson, a lead U.S.
negotiator

Courtesy:thehindu.com
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