Conference reaches climate deal

U.S. agrees to watered-down declaration

PETER GORRIE
TORONTO STAR
Dec. 10, 2005. 08:25 AM

MONTREAL -- Weary delegates, politicians and lobby group members cheered early this morning as the United Nations climate change conference finally passed its last two major decisions after two days and nights of gruelling talks.
The main negotiating logjam broke around midnight, when the United States agreed to a watered-down declaration that all 189 countries at the conference will start an open-ended “dialogue” aimed at finding new ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

That move, in turn, allowed the passage of a crucial separate deal, under which Canada and 39 other industrialized nations bound by emissions-cut targets under the Kyoto Protocol will begin to negotiate deeper cuts for after the Protocol’s first phase expires in 2012.

The U.S. had objected to several increasingly weak versions of the dialogue agreement during the two week conference, and walked out of the talks Thursday night.

But under intense pressure from most other countries represented here, it finally relented, signing on to a final version after yet more revisions.

Environmental groups were enthusiastic about the conference’s outcome. “This is a set of agreements that may well save the planet,” said Elizabeth May, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada.

They were equally pleased by the last-minute American compromise.

“The Bush administration blinked. The world should remember that,” said Bill Hare, policy director with Greenpeace International.

“They miscalculated and underestimated the will of countries to move forward in combatting climate change,”said Jennifer Morgan of WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund.

Environment Minister Stéphane Dion, the conference president, was obviously elated when he banged his gavel to signal the passage of the decisions.

The UN meeting has produced a “Montreal Action Plan” that “will guide us as we tackle climate change on many fronts.”

He denied the U.S. had caved in. Paula Dobriansky, the head of the American delegation, “acted in good faith,” he said. Despite disagreements: “she never told me she would not work with me.”

Under one agreement, the countries with mandatory emissions targets are to immediately start talks on deeper cuts. They are instructed to get the work finished in time so any new caps will take effect as soon as the first phase ends.

The dialogue deal calls for workshops to hold non-binding discussions, with no deadline.

Although vague, Dion said they would come up with innovative measures to combat climate change.

“Now, national governments will have the forum to exchange experiences and analyze strategic approaches, and to free our imaginations,” he said.