Earth Equity News

No Accord at Paris Climate Meeting; More Talks Planned. By Angela Charlton, AP, April 18, 2008. "Negotiators from the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases wrapped up another round of climate talks Friday by clashing over how deeply to cut the heat-trapping gases they put into the atmosphere. The delegates from 16 nations scheduled more talks next month in trying to produce a new climate accord... Jean-Pierre Jouyet, the French co-chairman of the two-day meeting, said the talks were dominated by debate over how much to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming. 'There were divergences' between the United States and the European Union, said Jouyet, France's junior minister for Europe. He did not elaborate... The EU has pledged to cut its emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, while the United States has not committed to any fixed emissions cuts. Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, President Bush said only that the U.S. should stop the rise in its emissions by 2025. The 16 countries represented produce about 80 percent of the world's carbon emissions. They are working in tandem with broader U.N. efforts to work out a new international climate accord to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. The major polluters meetings were launched last year by the United States, which rejected the Kyoto pact. The goal is to produce an agreement for the Group of Eight summit in Japan in July."