Last Friday, negotiators from 158 countries agreed to rough emission reduction targets for industrialized countries to strive for. Since the U.S. has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, the U.S. was not a part of the agreement.
The negotiators convened in Vienna for an intersessional meeting of the UNFCCC to discuss an international agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. The final agreement was for industrialized countries to strive to reduce emission their emissions 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020. It was a compromise between developing countries and the European Union, which were pushing for ambitious targets and Canada, Japan and Russia, who were not in favor of setting emission reduction targets at all. The goal is non-binding, yet considered to be a positive step towards the major annual climate negotiations that will take place in December in Bali.
In the lead up to Bali, there are a number of major international conferences on climate to look out for. This weekend, an APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Co-operation) summit will look to tackle the issue, but many expect more hot air from Australian Prime Minister Howard and Bush. Take a picture of yourself and join Avaaz’s photo petition, to remind officials that we need bold binding targets and not more “voluntary” or “aspirational” goals.
Hi Whit. Thanks for the post. With the Bali negotiations right around the corner I am getting anxious to hear what the IGHIH community has to say. Do we have a youth team heading to Bali? I know SustainUS is sending a delegation, but are any other groups going? Maybe we should have an Energy Action conference call about to see who is interested and start to hash out some logistics. I’m confident we can find sponsorship to attend but we have to get the ball rolling PDQ. Maybe it already is and I’m just in the dark?