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June 12, 1998

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Solar energy will help cut down emissions from burning fossil fuels.
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Bonn - WWF welcomed small but important steps forward
in closing the major loopholes written into last years Kyoto agreement on
climate change, as two weeks of intergovernmental talks ended today.
But the conference did not debate the critical need for industrialised
nations to strengthen domestic efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions,
such as carbon dioxide.
"There is an emerging glimmer of hope that governments will close off
loopholes which could wreck efforts to combat climate change," said
Lars Georg Jensen, Policy Co-ordinator of WWFs Climate Change
Campaign. "There is still a large amount of unfinished business from
Kyoto which must be dealt with at the next conference scheduled for
Buenos Aires in November.
The major loopholes which governments began to confront in Bonn
include:
- "sinks" - WWF has always cautioned against relying on forests to
mop up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Governments have now
accepted the enormous scientific uncertainties surrounding this issue.
They are to commission a new study from the pre-eminent scientific
body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which should be
completed before countries rush into new ways to exploit the worlds
forests. Absent in Bonn, however, was discussion of how inaction on
climate change will threaten the survival of many forests world wide.
- emissions trading - despite continuing intransigence from the
United States on agreeing to limit the amount of pollution "rights" which
countries could buy abroad, there has been some progress on agreeing
the principles for a strong and well-monitored emissions trading system.
But industrialised countries have still to respond seriously to developing
nations concerns that emissions trading is unfair because it rewards
large industrialised polluters without compensating poorer nations which
will suffer the worst effects of climate change.
- clean development mechanism - although political progress was
painfully slow and marred by confrontation, the G-77 group of
developing countries has shown it is open to co-operating in defining
rules by which private sector finance could be channelled into projects
to limit carbon emissions, so long as they promote sustainable
development. Effective rules should limit the risk of industrialised
countries snapping up cheap short-term emission limitation options,
leaving developing countries only with expensive options in the future.
This engagement by the G-77 begins to answer demands by the United
States for "meaningful participation" by developing countries in the Kyoto
agreement.
In Kyoto, industrialised countries agreed to reduce their emissions of
greenhouse gases by 5.2% in the period 2008 to 2012 - a weak target
that they could easily meet through domestic efforts. They also wrote in
a number of "flexibility mechanisms", intended to reduce the cost of
cutting carbon dioxide, which are potentially open to abuse by nations
wanting to avoid taking action at home.
For more information contact :
Andrew Kerr,
tel: +31 6561 9462 for
more information in Dutch, English, French and Italian.