A 12-day marathon of talks began here Monday on salvaging the UN's Kyoto Protocol on global warming after the United States announced in March it would not ratify the landmark accord.
Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk, chairing the talks, pleaded with countries to wrap up Kyoto, a "framework" treaty whose machinery has been under arduous negotiation for years.
"It is crucial that we bring our four-year work to completion," Pronk said.
Kyoto, signed in 1997, sets down national goals and a timetable for reducing emissions of carbon-rich gases, a byproduct of industrialisation that is blamed for dangerously warming the Earth's atmosphere.
The target is a 5.2-percent cut in global emissions by 2010 compared with 1990 levels.
Only industrialised countries are tied to specific cuts, while developing countries are being offered financial and technological help to try to wean them off the path of carbon pollution.
President George W. Bush announced in March that the United States would not ratify the accord, which was signed by his predecessor, Bill Clinton.
He said it was "unfair" as large developing countries such as China and India do not have targeted emissions reductions.
That announcement was a crippling blow to Kyoto, as the United States accounts for a quarter of global "greenhouse gas" emissions.
The European Union has vowed to press ahead without the US, but needs the support of other industrialised countries to complete Kyoto and have it ratified.
Australia, Canada and Japan have all voiced skepticism about the value of a treaty that does not include the world's biggest polluter.
On Sunday, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said his government would take until late October, when another negotiating round begins, before deciding to ratify Kyoto without the participation of the United States.
He poured cold water on hopes of a breakthrough in Bonn.
"We have yet to reach a conclusion, as we are trying to seek ways to cooperate between the United States, Europe and Japan," he said.
Scientists say Kyoto's target is just a fraction of what is needed over the next 50 years to brake global warming.
Environmentalists warn against rewriting Kyoto to accommodate the US, saying this would tragically delay action against climate change.
The Bonn talks unfold at the level of senior officials for three days, then hand over to ministers from Thursday to Sunday.
The hope is that they reach political agreement on the big issues, which is then transformed into legal text for the rest of the talks -- BONN (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
