Delegates from more than 100 nations concluded 12 days of talks on the next climate change treat in Bonn, Germany this week and produced a 200-page document will serve as a starting point for treaty negotiations that open in Copenhagen, Denmark in December. Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Yvo de Boer, left, believes participating governments can reach an agreement to go beyond the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a climate-change agreement that set emissions targets for industrialized nations. Many of those goals have not been met, and the United States never ratified the treaty. [Bonn Climate Change Talks 2009]The document outlines proposals for cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases by rich countries and limiting the growth of gases in the developing world. It also discusses ways of preventing deforestation and providing financing for poorer nations to help them adapt to warmer temperatures. Many environment advocates are dissatified with the document. No news there. Representatives of poor countries believe developed nations have not made an adequate commitment to reduce their emissions.
The United States and China, which jointly produce 40 percent of the world’s heat-trapping emissions. (In declining to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the United States cited China and India’s lack of participation.) (WSJ, 6/12/09)
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