Environment ministers agreed yesterday to a road map to extend the Kyoto Protocol climate pact beyond 2012, breaking two weeks of deadlock at UN talks aimed at curbing global warming.
Minutes after passing the Kyoto resolution, ministers also agreed to launch new, open-ended world talks on ways to combat global warming, overcoming objections by the US, which had resisted taking part in broader discussions.
The Montreal meeting had dragged on till nearly dawn yesterday, in part delayed by last-minute Russian objections.
"This has been one of the most productive UN climate change conferences ever. This plan sets the course for future action on climate change," said Richard Kinley, acting head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat.
Environment activists cheered, hugged and some even cried after the delegates passed what they saw as historic decisions tackling climate change.
"There were many potential points at this meeting when the world could have given up due to the tactics of the Bush administration and others but it did not," said Jennifer Morgan, climate change expert at WWF.
"And we must count on this resolve moving forward to bring the much deeper cuts in emissions in order to avoid the very devastating impacts of climate change," Morgan said.
The Montreal talks followed a twin track, one pursuing talks to advance Kyoto and the other under the broader UN Framework Convention on Climate Convention, Kyoto's parent treaty.
The US, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and Australia have refused to ratify Kyoto but are members of the parent treaty. Washington had initially refused to support a broader dialogue, fearing it might lead to binding commitments.
Washington accepted only a watered-down proposal to enter an exploratory global "dialogue" on future steps to combat climate change. That proposal specifically rules out "negotiations leading to new commitments."
``It's clear the Bush administration isn't willing to accept its responsibility,'' climate expert Bill Hare of Greenpeace International said of the continued US rejection of global negotiations and emissions controls.
US delegation chief Paula Dobriansky said earlier in the week that the Americans ``believe firmly that negotiations will not reap progress, as indicated, because there are differing perspectives.''
In days of tough negotiation, the Kyoto nations settled on a plan whereby a working group would begin developing post-2012 proposals. The agreement set no deadline for completing that work, except to say it should be done early enough to ensure that no gap develops after 2012.
That would guarantee an uninterrupted future for the burgeoning international ``carbon market,'' in which carbon reductions achieved by one company can be sold to another to help it meet its target.
With the talks over, a huge sigh of relief swept through the vast conference hall after a 20-hour session that left delegates exhausted and a little emotional.
"We are delighted," said Margaret Beckett, Environment Secretary for Britain, currently holding the rotating EU presidency. "It's the fruit of a year's work for us."
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