US refuses to budge over climate change deal

The US has refused to sign up to a deal on climate change unless poorer countries also cut levels of pollution.

Published: 6:13PM GMT 06 Nov 2009
In the latest round of UN climate change talks in Barcelona, the US said it was unfair to expect rich countries to cut emissions while developing nations like China and India continue to pollute.
It is the latest blow to the negotiations and puts any chance of a deal in Copenhagen at the end of the year in serious doubt.

Already, the UK Government and others have been forced to concede that the chance of any legally-binding deal is unlikely before the end of next year.
The UN climate change negotiations are focused on cutting greenhouse gas emissions so that temperatures do not rise above 3.6F (2C).
Under current proposals the rich countries are expected to cut carbon emissions by between 25 and 40 per cent by 2020. The rich world would also pay out billions of pounds every year to help developing nations adapt to climate change and cut emissions.
But Jonathan Pershing, the US Deputy Special Envoy on Climate Change, said poorer nations should be subjected to the same tough conditions as the rich world.
Although he said poor nations do not need to sign up to targets, he said a new deal on climate change must include “legally binding actions” for developing countries that cut pollution. This would require countries like China to invest in renewables and improve nenergy efficiency.
“The developing countries want a legal deal that applies to us but not to them and we are not prepared to have such an agreement,” he said.
“They would like us to have binding commitments on finance and binding commitments on emissions targets but they are not prepared to have a review [of their emissions] - much less make it binding. The US wants the strongest possible agreement. If other countries will do this, we would be prepared to do this ourselves. It is not dependent on us, it is dependent on others.”
But Alf Wills, deputy direct general of international co-operation for South Africa, who was representing the G77 group of nations, said rich countries that are historically responsible for most of the pollution must move first.
He said poor nations will walk out of the talks if the US refuses to sign up to tough targets.
“We will not accept a green wash deal,” he said.
Despite the deadlock, Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN negotiations, insisted a deal can be done as long as rich countries sign up to targets and agree to give money to poor nations.
“Without these pieces of the puzzle in place, we will not have a deal in Copenhagen,” he said. “So leadership at the highest level is required to unlock the pieces,”
David Waskow, Climate Change Programme Director for Oxfam America, said only the US can save the deal now.
“President Obama has recognised time and again that the poorest are being hit hardest by climate change. If ever there was a time for audacity and hope, it is now.”