Climate talks generate much heat
Developing nations at odds with industrial countries led by the US
BERLIN — Global agreement on fighting air pollution and climate change seemed more remote than ever on Sunday as developing nations presented a draft at the United Nations climate conference which set them at odds with rich countries.
The 11-day conference, a follow-up to the 1992 Rio "Earth Summit", has set itself the task of creating a framework for new talks on agreeing cuts in industrial emission into the next century.
But while industrialised countries have argued about what kind of cuts are necessary, developing countries have refused their demands to take on more of the burden.
On Sunday, at an unscheduled meeting of some 80 negotiators, a group of 32 key developing nations, excluding oil producers, presented a draft document which said there should be "no new commitments whatsoever for developing-country parties".
The draft was a proposal for the negotiating mandate which it is hoped the Berlin conference will produce, setting the scene for fresh talks leading to a binding international protocol in 1997.
The text meant a victory for rapidly industrialising countries such as India and China, which have faced some opposition from other developing countries in their insistence that any emission cuts could slow their economic growth.
But, with just five days of the conference left, it set the developing nations at odds with industrial countries led by the United States.
These say that, in a few decades, countries such as China and India will match their own output of "greenhouse gases" such as carbon dioxide (CO2) which threaten to alter the climate.
The developing nations opposed another idea favoured staunchly by the United States —that industrialised countries should be allowed to pay for emission-reducing measures in poorer countries to offset some of their own commitments.
It all meant that the 60 or so ministers who were hoping to find a deal ready when they arrive tomorrow will most likely find that they themselves must struggle to produce a result. To complicate matters still further, the industrialised countries failed on Sunday to bridge their own differences.
While the European Union is pushing hard for commitments to carbon-dioxide cuts, the so-called Juscgnz countries — Japan, the
United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — have been more reluctant to make concrete pledges.
A further obstacle to progress at the conference Is the failure so far to agree on a voting procedure.
Oil producers are holding out for consensus voting because they fear losing markets if commitments are made to cut C02 emission, most of which stem from fossil fuels.
The German hosts were continuing frantic talks on Sunday to try to secure majority voting, which would prevent oil producers having an effective veto on major decisions. — Reuter.
Go easy on
:stockings, lycra tightsBERLIN — They come In different shades and more commonly In nylon, but not my people realise the link between women’s stockings and global warming.
Modern stockings are made from material synthesised from adipic acid, a nitrogen-rich compound, and, In the process, nitrous oxide (N20) is released.
N2O, also known as laughing gas and formerly used as an anaesthetic, Is a greenhouse gas, one of the gases whose presence in the atmosphere retains solar heat and helps warm up the planet.
Chemical- and synthetic-fibre companies are taking measures to reduce their emission of N20.
What about figure-hugging hosiery, such as lycra tights? Halogenated hydrocarbons are used to make lycra. These hydrocarbons are controlled strictly because they eat away at the ozone layer which reduces the amount of cancer-causing ultra-violet radiation from the sun. — AFP.
Source : The Straits Times 4th Apr 1995
Recycling Point Dot Com
(C) 2000 All Rights Reserved