Fri, Mar 30, 2001 page1

• Global concern voiced as US drops emissions treaty

  ENVIRONMENT News that the world's biggest consumer of resources is pulling out of an agreement to cut emissions was greeted with dismay around the world

  • REUTERS
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  US President George W. Bush walked into a hail of protest yesterday after ditching the 1997 Kyoto treaty aimed at staving off global warning, with Pacific islands warning rising seas could wipe them off the map.

  The EU said it was "very worried" by the US decision, Japan urged Washington to reconsider and Australia reminded the world's most voracious resources consumer it had a responsibility to cut the globe's emissions of greenhouse gases.

  

  PHOTO: AP

  In the Pacific Ocean, island states already suffering devastation because of rising sea levels and severe storms and droughts said their very survival was at stake.

  "It is very worrying if it is true that the US intends to pull out of the protocol," EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom said in a statement. "The EU is willing to discuss details and problems -- but not scrap the whole protocol."

  British Environment Minister Michael Meacher said in a BBC television interview the US decision was extremely serious.

  "[Global warming] is the most dangerous and fearful challenge to humanity over the next 100 years," Meacher said.

  White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Wednesday President George W. Bush had been "unequivocal." "He does not support the Kyoto treaty. It is not in the United States' economic best interest," Fleischer said.

  The UN pact was signed in the Japanese city of Kyoto by ex-president Bill Clinton and leaders of other industrialized countries, but it has not been ratified by the US Senate. Under the treaty, the major powers agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which result mainly from burning coal and oil, by an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

  Scientists believe that greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming, which can cause disastrous weather changes.

  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, bringing together research by around 2,000 scientists, said that this year the consequences could include big floods, long droughts and the extinction of countless species.

  Fleischer said Bush opposed Kyoto because it does not bind developing nations to curb emissions and he believes the costs outweigh the benefits. Coming on top of a decision by Bush not to ask US power plants to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, Washington's stance on the Kyoto pact was seen by some as its kiss of death.

  "The Kyoto protocol wouldn't work without the United States," Australian Environment Minister Robert Hill said. The country responsible for 30 percent of global greenhouse gases "cannot easily walk away from that responsibility," he said.

  Among those most threatened by climate change are atolls in the Pacific. The tiny nation of Kiribati said it was already experiencing coastal erosion, droughts and severe storms as sea levels rose.

  "It is a terrible economic problem, it is our very survival," said Baranika Etuati, acting director of the Department of Environment and Conservation in Kiribati.

  Japan, the world's second largest economy, urged Bush to reconsider.

  New Zealand said it shared the "grave concern and disappointment" of other countries.

  Environmentalists wept and fumed. "It is a low point in world environment history," said Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown.

  Greenpeace climate campaigner Angie Heffernan, based in the Fijian capital Suva, said Bush's decision was driven "by oil, coal and gas interests." "Greenpeace is disgusted and appalled at the United States," Heffernan said.

  For your information

  Per capita CO2 emissions

  Rates in metric tonnes * Brazil 1.39 * China 2.27 * Japan 8.79 * Russian Federation 14.11 * Swaziland 0.33 * India 0.88 * Malaysia 3.74 * UK 9.78 * US 19.13 Source: CDIAC, as cited in World Resources 1996-7
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