The U.S. is showing no indication of budging from its stance that some form of commitment by developing countries to cut greenhouse emissions, especially carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuel, must be achieved at Kyoto. But developing nations say there is no shirking the fact that industralised countries are responsible for fouling up the atmosphere. It is unfair that we must be forced to undertake a commitment when there is no indication of leadership from the top polluters,'' said Espen Ronneberg of the Republic of Marshall Islands, one of many islands that would bear the brunt of rising sea levels to be caused by global warming. Like the U.S., industrialised nations are falling behind 1992 commitments to try to cut back emissions to 1990 levels by 2000. The Kyoto talks hope to address this failure by setting legally binding targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Officials already see some signs of compromise.
European Union delegates, who arrived with the most ambitious proposal of a 15 percent reduction below 1990 levels by the year 2010, are also signaling a softening to 10 percent as a base for further discussions, conference sources said. The haggling over targets, timetables and terms of legally binding commitments under the third meeting of parties to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change now rests with host Japan. Some proposals on the table in Kyoto include trading in emissions, which would allow countries to 'sell' their credits to those that may continue produce greenhouse gases. There are also proposals to widen the coverage of greenhouse gases covered by reduction targets from the three main ones, which are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The Japanese and European formulas cover only the first three gases.