Earth Equity News

Merkel's Support for Bush's G8 Climate Efforts Lends Them Credibility. By John D. McKinnon and Marcus Walker, WSJ, June 12, 2008. "At a news conference with Mr. Bush, [leading European climate advocate German] Chancellor [Angela] Merkel suggested that a U.S.-led meeting of leaders from the world's 16 or so biggest economies could [lead to] a joint commitment to adopt binding... [CO2] targets... The meeting -- part of a negotiation launched by the U.S. last year -- is being planned in conjunction with a smaller gathering of the... Group of Eight... nations next month in Hokkaido, Japan... [But] the Hokkaido agreement -- if it materializes -- might be somewhat less far-reaching than it appears at first blush, however. The U.S. is aiming for agreement... on a long-term emissions goal; a statement expressing willingness to make midterm national emissions goals part of an internationally binding accord; consensus on eliminating [clean-energy technology] tariffs, a big issue for major multinational corporations eager to sell equipment; and a separate agreement on... [helping] emerging countries pay for new technology. But while the midterm goals would become binding, the long-term emissions goal would not. And it's unclear how ambitious the binding midterm goals would be; a substantial part of the reductions will be based on existing restrictions and technologies. The U.S., on the one hand, and emerging economies like China and India, on the other, continue to engage in a standoff over which will go first in signing up for binding... caps. U.S. industries -- and the Bush administration -- worry that caps that don't apply to emerging economies will lead to a wholesale transfer of jobs overseas. Despite possible shortcomings of the U.S.-led negotiation, [scientist and onetime Kyoto Accord negotiator] Chancellor Merkel's support lends it credibility... She has tried to make tackling climate change one of the signature projects of her chancellorship."