U.S. to Host Forum on Climate Change
Wall Street Journal2009-03-29
WASHINGTON — The U.S. will host a meeting of major economies in late April to lay the diplomatic foundation for an international agreement on climate change and energy later in the year, the White House said Saturday.
By convening a meeting of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, President Barack Obama will be able to help create political momentum for an agreement to be signed at the December United Nations climate change negotiations in Copenhagen.
Though few international climate change experts believe a final accord will be signed at the Copenhagen talks, many expect a document of foundational principles for a post-Kyoto Protocol agreement can be forged with leadership from the U.S.
“The Major Economies Forum will facilitate a candid dialogue among key developed and developing countries, help generate the political leadership necessary to achieve a successful outcome at the UN climate change negotiations,” the White House said in a statement.
The meeting, to be held in Washington April 27-28, will “advance the exploration of concrete initiatives and joint ventures that increase the supply of clean energy while cutting greenhouse gas emissions,” it said.
The leaders of 17 major economies, including the U.S., China and the U.K., will discuss issues such as emission targets, technology funding, sectoral agreements, deforestation, trade tariffs and a raft of other complex issues that deal with cutting greenhouses gases.
The preparatory sessions in Washington will culminate to the Major Economies Forum Leaders’ meeting in La Maddalena, Italy, in July.
Earlier this month, the president’s fiscal 2010 budget outlined emission reduction targets of 14% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83% by 2050, while developing nations such as China are seeking more lenient targets. There is general agreement by the Obama administration and European Union leaders that such nations will bear a lighter load in earlier years, with some E.U. ministers calling for substantially higher cuts from developed nations.
The top climate envoy for the United States said earlier this month that the U.S. target is politically realistic, and warned his counterparts that such realism needed to be a theme in discussions. Many countries have likewise already rejected posturing by the Chinese, who are calling for importers of China’s carbon-intense products to bear the cost burden of reducing emissions from manufacturing those goods.
U.S. officials say it unlikely Congress will sign a climate bill into law before Copenhagen. However, analysts say the White House is hoping it will have something substantial to lay on the table that will give the U.S. negotiating leverage.
One policy tool would be to officially classify carbon dioxide as a danger to public health and welfare, a trigger for regulating emissions across the economy.
This would be in addition to a climate bill passed by the House of Representatives.
The Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to unveil a climate bill next week that would cut greenhouse gases by 14% to 20% below 2005 levels by 2020.
Despite a fractured consensus by key Democrats this week, the party showed a face of unity and said they were confident a bill could be passed this year.
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