III

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 98

[Report No. 105–54]

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the conditions for the United

States becoming a signatory to any international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention

on Climate Change.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 25, 1997

Mr. BYRD (for himself, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. INOUYE,

Mr. WARNER, Mr. FORD, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. HELMS, Mr.

LEVIN, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. ASHCROFT,

Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. KEMPTHORNE, Mr. THURMOND, Mr. BURNS, Mr.

CONRAD, Mr. GLENN, Mr. ENZI, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. BOND, Mr.

COVERDELL, Mr. DEWINE, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. GORTON, Mr. HATCH,

Mr. BREAUX, Mr. CLELAND, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. JOHNSON, Ms. LANDRIEU, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. NICKLES, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr.

SHELBY, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. BENNETT, Mr. FAIRCLOTH, Mr.

FRIST, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. AKAKA, Mr.

COATS, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. GRAMM, Mr. GRAMS, Mr.

LOTT, Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN, Mr. ROBB, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. STEVENS, Mr.

LUGAR, Mr. REID, Mr. BRYAN, Mr. THOMPSON, and Mr. CAMPBELL)

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on Foreign Relations

JULY 21, 1997

Reported by Mr. HELMS, without amendment

JULY 25, 1997

Considered and agreed to
2

SRES 98 ATS

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the conditions

for the United States becoming a signatory to any international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions under

the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change.

Whereas the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (in this resolution referred to as the ‘‘Convention’’), adopted in May 1992, entered into force in

1994 and is not yet fully implemented;

Whereas the Convention, intended to address climate change

on a global basis, identifies the former Soviet Union and

the countries of Eastern Europe and the Organization

For Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),

including the United States, as ‘‘Annex I Parties’’, and

the remaining 129 countries, including China, Mexico,

India, Brazil, and South Korea, as ‘‘Developing Country

Parties’’;

Whereas in April 1995, the Convention’s ‘‘Conference of the

Parties’’ adopted the so-called ‘‘Berlin Mandate’’;

Whereas the ‘‘Berlin Mandate’’ calls for the adoption, as soon

as December 1997, in Kyoto, Japan, of a protocol or another legal instrument that strengthens commitments to

limit greenhouse gas emissions by Annex I Parties for the

post-2000 period and establishes a negotiation process

called the ‘‘Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate’’;

Whereas the ‘‘Berlin Mandate’’ specifically exempts all Developing Country Parties from any new commitments in

such negotiation process for the post-2000 period;
3

SRES 98 ATS

Whereas although the Convention, approved by the United

States Senate, called on all signatory parties to adopt

policies and programs aimed at limiting their greenhouse

gas (GHG) emissions, in July 1996 the Undersecretary

of State for Global Affairs called for the first time for

‘‘legally binding’’ emission limitation targets and timetables for Annex I Parties, a position reiterated by the

Secretary of State in testimony before the Committee on

Foreign Relations of the Senate on January 8, 1997;

Whereas greenhouse gas emissions of Developing Country

Parties are rapidly increasing and are expected to surpass emissions of the United States and other OECD

countries as early as 2015;

Whereas the Department of State has declared that it is critical for the Parties to the Convention to include Developing Country Parties in the next steps for global action

and, therefore, has proposed that consideration of additional steps to include limitations on Developing Country

Parties’ greenhouse gas emissions would not begin until

after a protocol or other legal instrument is adopted in

Kyoto, Japan in December 1997;

Whereas the exemption for Developing Country Parties is inconsistent with the need for global action on climate

change and is environmentally flawed;

Whereas the Senate strongly believes that the proposals

under negotiation, because of the disparity of treatment

between Annex I Parties and Developing Countries and

the level of required emission reductions, could result in

serious harm to the United States economy, including

significant job loss, trade disadvantages, increased energy

and consumer costs, or any combination thereof; and
4

SRES 98 ATS

Whereas it is desirable that a bipartisan group of Senators

be appointed by the Majority and Minority Leaders of

the Senate for the purpose of monitoring the status of

negotiations on Global Climate Change and reporting periodically to the Senate on those negotiations: Now,

therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that—

2 (1) the United States should not be a signatory

3 to any protocol to, or other agreement regarding, the

4 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

5 Change of 1992, at negotiations in Kyoto in Decem6 ber 1997, or thereafter, which would—

7 (A) mandate new commitments to limit or

8 reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the Annex

9 I Parties, unless the protocol or other agree10 ment also mandates new specific scheduled

11 commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas

12 emissions for Developing Country Parties with13 in the same compliance period, or

14 (B) would result in serious harm to the

15 economy of the United States; and

16 (2) any such protocol or other agreement which

17 would require the advice and consent of the Senate

18 to ratification should be accompanied by a detailed

19 explanation of any legislation or regulatory actions

20 that may be required to implement the protocol or

21 other agreement and should also be accompanied by
5

SRES 98 ATS

1 an analysis of the detailed financial costs and other

2 impacts on the economy of the United States which

3 would be incurred by the implementation of the pro4 tocol or other agreement.

5 SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit

6 a copy of this resolution to the President.

Æ