Brussels, 18/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - Announced on 16 April by George W. Bush from the White House, the United States' proposal to stop growth in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 had the effect of a cold shower on the meeting of 16 major economies (“Major Economies Meeting”), which ended on 18 April, in Paris. This third session of an informal dialogue initiated by the United States in 2007 between the countries that make up 80% of world emissions was supposed to promote the emergence of consensus between industrialised and emergent countries on the fight against climate change after 2012, and to thus increase the chances of reaching a comprehensive UN agreement in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Compared to the binding objective the EU had set itself for a unilateral 20% reduction of its emissions by 2020 - if not 30% if the other major economies agree to make a comparable effort in the context of an international agreement - the US proposal is “peanuts”. It is therefore not surprising that the American offer came as a disappointment to the Europeans and enraged the environmental NGOs. Sigmar Gabriel, German Environment Minister, denounced a return to the past worthy of the “first Neanderthal”. Stavros Dimas, Environment Commissioner, was more diplomatic saying the proposal was simply “insufficient” given the need for urgent action.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was hoping for a leap forward from emergent countries, said “You cannot have the rights of the major economic powers that you are on the way to becoming, without having the responsibilities that are also incumbent upon such powers”. The US refusal to subscribe to any reduction target has weakened the strength of this appeal. “What brings us together here despite everything that separates us, is that we are not only the heart of the problem but also a large part of the solution”, said Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French Secretary of State for European Affairs, at the opening of the meeting. It would seem after the meeting that the United States, the only industrialised country refusing the binding targets, is more isolated than ever. “Bush does not seem to have understood the IPCC report, which unequivocally states that global emissions must reach their ceiling in 10 years from now at the latest - 10 not 17!”, Greenpeace said ironically. (A.N.)