---
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Success in Climate Talks Tied to Copenhagen, U.S. Says (Update1)
2010-10-01 21:21:01.194 GMT
(Updates with comments from Stern on climate legislation
starting in 16th paragraph.)
By Kim Chipman
Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Progress toward adopting a treaty
limiting climate change will depend on whether countries stick
to goals outlined in the Copenhagen accord last year, and talks
remain challenging, the chief U.S. negotiator said.
"It's been very difficult," Todd Stern, U.S. special
envoy for climate change, said today in a interview in
Washington. "Countries have backtracked," he said without
identifying specific nations.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
led nations in crafting an accord last year at the United
Nations-led talks. The pact, which failed to win approval of all
delegates to become an official document, laid out emissions-
reduction cuts for developed countries and pledges of $100
billion in aid from richer countries to poor nations.
The non-binding agreement struck a balance between climate
change-related financing, technology, adaptation and forest
protection measures and the need for a transparent system and
greenhouse-gas emissions cuts, Stern said. The accord calls on
developed nations and major emerging economies such as China and
India to make emissions-reduction commitments. The 1997 Kyoto
Protocol, which the U.S. never ratified, exempts developing
nations from making cuts in emissions.
Countries can't "pick and choose" which parts of the
Copenhagen document they want to embrace, he said.
"That's not a prescription for success," Stern said.
"The real issue this year is going to be whether we can, in
fact, move those issues forward in a balanced way."
The next UN summit on climate change starts Nov. 29 in
Cancun, Mexico. Unlike last year's meeting, where expectations
"got way out of control," a legally binding agreement is not
"in the cards," Stern said.
Cancun Goal
The goal instead is to take key provisions of the
Copenhagen accord and incorporate the language into an official
UN text, Stern said. This includes emissions-reduction pledges,
he said. The U.S. has pledged to cut national greenhouse gases
about 17 percent by 2020.
More than 190 nations are seeking an agreement to cut
emissions from polluting industries such as power and cement,
after differences among leaders of developed and developing
countries sank the talks in Copenhagen.
The U.S. and China, the two biggest emitters of greenhouse
gases, have been deadlocked over issues including climate change
finance, pollution-reduction goals and verification of emissions
cuts. The U.S. declared the Copenhagen accord a success because
China and other major developing countries agreed to make
commitments to limit emissions.
China Meeting
Climate negotiators will meet in Tianjin, in northern
China, next week for the final discussions before the two-week
Cancun summit. Stern said that while some proposals from the
Chinese would move the talks backward, "very constructive
conversations" have taken place between the two nations.
Li Gao, a Chinese negotiator, told the China Economic Times
newspaper last month that his country wants a binding global
climate change agreement by late next year.
Without legislation, the U.S. can't participate in forming
a legally binding international agreement, Li said. A bill that
would cap greenhouse gases stalled in the Senate this year after
the House passed a measure in 2009.
Stern said there's "no doubt" the U.S. will adopt
legislation that will help reach its emissions-reduction goal.
"It's too bad the legislation didn't get done this year,
but the president stands by the commitment," he said.
The Environmental Protection Agency is issuing regulations
of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change and a combination
of rules, actions such as tighter fuel-economy standards and
legislation will help the U.S. to reach its goal, Stern said.
For Related News and Information:
Carbon Markets: EMIS <GO>
Top Climate Stories: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top Environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Locations of global energy facilities: BMAP <GO>
--With assistance from Alex Morales in London. Editors: Steve
Geimann, John Lear
To contact the reporter on this story:
Kim Chipman in Washington at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or
lliebert@bloomberg.net
