US President George W. Bush held a first
round of meetings in September 2007 under
an initiative he proposed in June in the face
of intensifying international pressure for
Washington to do more to battle
greenhouse-gas emissions.

US pushes its climate change agenda despite criticism

Washington (AFP) Jan 25, 2008
The United States pushed forward with its own agenda
on climate change Friday despite criticism that
Washington is attempting to undermine the global
effort led by the United Nations.

But as senior officials outlined the broad agenda of a
meeting the United States is hosting next week in
Hawaii -- which includes an emphasis on controversial
uses of nuclear power and technology to trap
emissions from coal plants -- they insisted they are
simply supplementing the UN process.

"It's the work we do this year that makes reaching
international agreement in 2009 possible," said Jim
Connaughton, chairman of the White House's Council
on Environmental Quality.

"And that underscores the importance of the Major
Economies process, the aim of which is to focus on a
few key areas from the Bali road map where the major
economies can make a detailed contribution to be
brought into the UN negotiations."

US President George W. Bush held a first round of
meetings in September 2007 under an initiative he
proposed in June in the face of intensifying
international pressure for Washington to do more to
battle greenhouse-gas emissions.

This carbon pollution, mainly derived from burning
fossil fuels, traps solar heat in the atmosphere and is
slowly heating the Earth's surface, wreaking the first
of what could be dramatic changes to the climate
system.

Bush has invited Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada,
China, the European Union, France, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa,
South Korea and the United Nations to send
representatives to the meeting in Hawaii January 30-31.

Bush also proposed a summit at which leaders would
"finalize the goal" of long-term emissions, but this was
received with little enthusiasm and no date for the
meeting has been announced.

Connaughton said the meeting would take place "later
this year" but cautioned that the US has "got a lot of
questions" about the feasibility of a G8 proposal to cut
emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

Europeans leaders in particular have approached the
US initiative with reluctance and have said they will
take a firm approach to ensure the talks do not
undermine the progress made in Bali last month.

High on the US agenda is an attempt to eliminate trade
barriers for "climate-beneficial goods and services,"
Connaughton said.

"The World Bank has estimated that with the
elimination of tariffs, global trade in lower-carbon
technologies could increase by up to 14 percent per
year," he said in a conference call with journalists.

"So we are talking about a very easy thing to do,
that should have been done years ago, that could
produce massive economic benefits, massive
productivity benefits, and massive greenhouse gas
reduction benefits."

The United States and European Union have called
for an immediate elimination of tariffs on about 40
goods and services and will bring a list of 180 or
more to the World Trade Organization for further
negotiation.

Connaughton also emphasized the need to ensure
that developing nations with dynamic such as China,
India, Brazil, South Africa, and Mexico bring their
emissions under control through investments in
advanced technologies.

"We know that all countries are willing to make
these investments because right now, if you look at
China or India or Brazil, they are investing in
state-of-the-art telecommunication systems," he
said.

"One can hope and expect the same kind of outcome
when it comes to clean energy systems."

The meeting will also focus on collaborative
technology development and deployment strategies;
reducing tariffs and expanding funding for the adoption
of existing clean technologies; and "improved
measurement and accounting systems, so we can
more effectively track progress," he said.