Yesterday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised President Bush for the climate change initiative he is bringing to the 33rd Annual meeting of the Group of Eight (G 
richest nations on June 6. His proposal will allow each nation to choose their own targets for cuts in carbon dioxide emissions for the medium term. While it is nice that our President has finally taken a step towards fighting global warming, it is a dangerous initiative because there is no real accountability to ensure we reach the goals of the Kyoto Protocol or the UN climate change report’s scientifically based solutions.
Kyoto calls for the 35 most industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) just 5% by the time it expires in 2012. Meanwhile, the top climate scientists from the United Nations say we must reduce our emissions 80% by 2050. The refusal of both the Clinton and Bush Administrations to sign the Kyoto Protocol is a disaster. We need real leadership in this country and more courageous leaders in the European Union to challenge the United States to cut its GHG emissions.
Meanwhile, China is complaining about the potential affects that mandatory cuts could have on development. Yes, cuts in carbon emissions place a strain on the economic development of the third world but the potentially devastating effects of global warming will have a far worse impact. The United States needs to lead the way with legislation like California’s Global Warming Solution Act of 2006. But until then, it looks like the European Union, China and of course, the good ol’ US of A will fall short of any real solutions. It’s time for the UN to grow a backbone and that’s only possible with the help of strong leaders, not fawning heads of state like Angela Merkel.
Stay alert for updates on our major media outlets on the great failures of the G8 in regards to the climate.
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Angela Merkel is not a fawning head of state, imho. You have to realise that she and other heads of state will encourage Bush in public to bring him further into the do-something/act-now fold, if they can. Meanwhile, both Merkel and Blair (who are on record as praising Bush for actually talking about climate change) have made strong statements since Bush’s announcement. It is worth keeping an eye on Reuters and European newspapers for G8 news this week. I am not yet as pessimistic as you, but I share your concerns for stronger leadership. We all know Blair and Bush are both on their way out. It remains to be seen whether Bush is allowed to scupper future negotiations by delaying talks and actions further. Meanwhile, 20 senators have written to Bush imploring him to toe the German hosts’ G8 line.
Gabriel, I’d like to connect with you about the National Youth Climate Summit sometime soon. I’d like to bring a literal bus load of Oregon students out to DC for the Summit and need to know more details. Please email me when you get a chance (OregonYouCAN[at]gmail[dot]com). Thanks,
Jesse Jenkins
Oregon Youth Climate Action Network
The most important issue at the G8 is that the mandate to reduce emissions must remain in the hands of the UNFCCC, with the aim of improving negotiations in Bali in December. Angela Merkel has repeatedly indicated that any proposal that would take away from the UN process would be crossing a red line, triggering a German veto. While Bush’s proposal certainly looks as if it is designed to interfere with the UN, it seems Merkel and Blair are being very smart by trying to bring the idea back within the UN by praising it. They are very complimentary of Bush because they want to subtlety redirect his newfound enthusiasm for climate change action back into this years UN negotiations. We will know soon if this tactic will work, but it seems the key to their diplomacy is to play nice rather than driving a wedge even deeper between Europe and North America.
China will never take on hard targets as long as the US doesn’t have them either. The real purpose of climate talks at this years G8 was to push the US towards this. The +5 countries were invited to the summit in order to include important developing countries like China and India and show them that the developing world is finally willing to take responsibility.
Ok, at least we are not at the stage of “there is no such thing, global warming” anymore. Give them few more decades and …
Global warming pics