World Agrees to Discuss Climate Treaty

The Kyoto Treaty took five years to negotiate, and the US still refuses to ratify it. Last week, in Bali, Indonesia, 190 nations including the US agreed to start talks on a new arrangement. The “Bali Roadmap” sounds like a Bing Crosby and Bob Hope film, but it is, in fact, another attempt to halt the climate change industrialization is causing. The idea is to have a treaty in place by 2009 that won’t damage the world economy while saving the global environment.

For the rich countries that do most of the polluting, there is a commitment in spirit to a system that will reduce their emissions by around 40%. This is a start, but one must note that the US, Canada and Japan are rather skeptical about any deal. They have agreed to talk, but they haven’t agreed to agree.

Poorer nations will be encouraged to develop their economies with greener approaches to manufacturing and energy generation. They are going to need financial help from the wealthier nations to do this.

One innovation that looks useful is inclusion of deforestation and land degradation. These account for 20% of all harmful emissions, but they haven’t been included in any climate regime before now.

Why would Mr. Bush, who opposes all kinds of climate related action, suddenly fall into line? Quite simply, he knows there’s going to be a deal whether he participates or not. If he participates and can get a deal done before he leaves office on January 20, 2009 (oh, what a glorious day!), his successor will be stuck with a treaty that will be much weaker than if there’s more negotiating to do. Most of the candidates currently in the presidential race have more progressive environmental policies that he does.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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