APEC Drops Targets For Cutting CO2 Emissions

Pacific Rim leaders convinced members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Singapore to drop the idea of putting a concrete target on cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Participants at the 21-member APEC group feared that trying to include such targets would hinder future climate change talks so targets will not be in the final statement for the annual summit.

President Obama even altered his schedule to try to negotiate some sort of agreement concerning CO2 reductions. Unfortunately, this decision at APEC is a big blow to the
pending United Nations climate change meeting in Copenhagen in trying to develop a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. , where hopes have evaporated of a binding global agreement next month in Copenhagen. (WSJ, 11/14/09)