Earth Equity News

Climate Conference in Ghana Last Weekend Made Important Headway. AP, August 23, 2008. "Delegates at a key U.N. climate conference [in Ghana over the weekend] made headway Friday on a plan to encourage developing countries to regulate carbon emissions by focusing on their largest industries. The emerging plan sidesteps objections from countries like India and China, which refuse to accept national targets… Under the 'sectoral approach' now taking shape, developing countries would set pollution targets for specific industries, like cement, steel or aluminum. Unlike the 37 industrial countries, they likely would not be punished for missing their goals. 'Something quiet but quite dramatic is happening,' said David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council. 'People are now talking about the same idea in the same language.' India voiced reservations, but did not reject the concept. As for China, Doniger said the plan fit neatly with Beijing's intention to increase the efficiency of its key industries, which produce the bulk of its carbon emissions. Details of any agreement on the new approach would be complex and difficult to reach, and it is only one of many disputed components of a post-2012 pact."