British Prime Minister Tony Blair is contemplating an unprecedented rift with the US over climate change at the G8 summit next week, which will lead to a final communique agreed by seven countries with US President George W. Bush left out on a limb.
The alternative is to face a "catastrophic failure" of his plan to get concerted action to combat global warming, which he has long said is the greatest threat the world faces.
British government colleagues have described the prime minister as showing great courage in sticking to his guns, despite being advised that it is "a very dangerous thing to do politically" because his strategy has no certain outcome.
`split communique'
It would be the first time that the G8 has faced a "split" communique -- and with the world's most powerful country in a minority of one.
The size of the task facing the negotiators trying to avoid this outcome became apparent on Thursday when the Guardian was leaked the disputed text on climate change which is to go before the G8 leaders next week in Gleneagles, Scotland.
So far apart are the US and the rest of the G8 that the senior civil servants from all eight countries were meeting yesterday and today in an attempt to avoid a showdown between the leaders.
The text, described as "the base for Friday, Saturday meeting," shows that the US refuses to accept either the science surrounding climate change or that the burning of fossil fuels is contributing to it.
US objections
The US is objecting to these words: "Climate change is a serious and long-term challenge that has the potential to affect every part of the globe.
There is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring and that human activity is contributing to this warming."
All the G8 nations accept the next sentence: "Global energy demands are expected to grow by 60 percent over the next 25 years.
This has the potential to cause a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions associated with climate change."
However the next sentence is also disputed by the US. It reads: "But we know that we need to slow, stop and then reverse the growth in greenhouse gases to reduce our exposure to potentially serious economic, environmental and security risks."
One possible compromise London has considered is to drop the climate change clauses in return for agreement to discuss action on greenhouse gas emissions.
This would let the US continue to refuse to acknowledge climate science while at least encouraging Bush to discuss with the rest of the G8 measures to combat its causes.
However, up to now the US has refused to do even this.
The fact that heads of state are being left to discuss these fundamentals demonstrates that "the prime minister is prepared to go down to the wire," colleagues said.
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
US President Donald Trump on Friday said Washington was “locked and loaded” to respond if Iran killed protesters, prompting Tehran to warn that intervention would destabilize the region. Protesters and security forces on Thursday clashed in several Iranian cities, with six people reported killed, the first deaths since the unrest escalated. Shopkeepers in Tehran on Sunday last week went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, actions that have since spread into a protest movement that has swept into other parts of the country. If Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
RSS