All eyes on Gore as high noon looms

General news - Friday December 14, 2007

ANALYSIS / CLIMATE CONFERENCE

All eyes on Gore as high noon looms

By RICHARD INGHAM

Nusa Dua, Indonesia _ Marathon attempts to craft a new strategy to tackle the peril of climate change were in deep trouble yesterday, with UN organisers warning there was less than a day to agree a deal. As exhausted negotiators wrangled behind closed doors, green activists on Bali island were hoping the clout of climate star Al Gore might save the talks from oblivion.

Environment ministers or their stand-ins from more than 180 countries have until today to agree a framework for tackling global warming past 2012, when pledges under the Kyoto Protocol expire.

But Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), warned that several interlocked issues threatened to derail the entire process. ''I am very concerned about the pace of things,'' said Mr de Boer. ''At 12 noon tomorrow [today], the time is up.''

The Bali talks do not themselves seek to draw up a new climate pact but to set down the parameters for further negotiations leading to such a deal. One of the biggest problems, said Mr de Boer, was over the scope of the ''ambition'' for the future negotiations.

The European Union, backed by developing countries, green groups and small island states, wants a reference by industrialised countries that a cut of 25-40% in their emissions by 2020, compared to 1990 levels, will be a guideline for those talks. It says these figures are essential for showing rich nations are serious about making concessions to fix a problem that they created and have the most resources to address.

The United States is opposed, and delegates say its position is also shared by Japan, Canada and Russia.

Another area of dispute is over how future talks should address forest loss and help transfer smart, clean technology to developing countries poised to become major emitters.

Indonesia, as conference chair, is striving to get a deal on these problems among a small group of several dozen key countries.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg urged the conference to be guided by Mr Gore and his co-winner of the 2007 Nobel peace award, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The top UN climate panel has warned of potentially catastrophic consequences if global temperatures continue to rise.

''The IPCC and its chair Dr [Rajendra] Pachauri have provided us with the facts and Al Gore has communicated the message in a way that we cannot ignore,'' Mr Stoltenberg told the delegates.

''Together they have made 2007 a turning point in our history. The last remainder of any personal doubt about the threat of climate change has finally been put to rest.''

The former US vice president, who became a tireless green activist after narrowly losing the race for the White House to George W Bush in 2000, was scheduled to address a side event in Bali and meet key players in the climate debate.

Mr Bush has bluntly rejected the Kyoto Protocol, arguing it is too costly and unfair as fast-growing emerging economies are under no obligation to slash carbon emissions.

Hans Verolme, director of the WWF conservation group's Global Climate Change Programme, said: ''The next 36 hours will be the moment of truth. There is no option but to have a success in Bali.''

In a report issued this year, the IPCC predicted that by 2100 global average surface temperatures could rise by between 1.1C and 6.4C (1.98 and 11.52F) compared to 1980-99 levels, stoked by heat-trapping gases from burning fossil fuels. More powerful storms, droughts, floods and rising sea levels are among the risks that will escalate in coming decades, threatening hunger and homelessness for millions.

Although climate change could cost trillions of dollars, there is also an economic bill in tackling the emissions that cause it, and this is where the political complexities arise. Switching to cleaner renewable sources and stepping up energy efficiency are resisted by powerful lobby groups in many countries. AFP

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