The United States will suffer from global warming along with
other nations if there is no broader agreement on cutting carbon
emissions, the United Nations environment chief Achim Steiner
said.
He said the United States needed to take significant steps to cut
emissions or there would be no solution to climate change, despite
an agreement in Bali on negotiations to replace the Kyoto climate
pact.
Delegates from 190 nations agreed on December 15 to launch
negotiations on a new pact to fight climate change after a
last-minute reversal by the United States allowed a breakthrough at
the talks on the Indonesian resort island.
The White House says the deal marked a new chapter in climate
diplomacy after six years of disputes with major allies, but it
still has "serious concerns" about the way forward.
"There is no solution to global warming without the United States,
but also the United States will not escape the consequences of
global warming without having a global agreement in which all
nations are part of reducing CO2 emissions," Steiner said in an
interview late on Thursday.
"The bottom line is: there is no alternative to trying to find an
agreement in which the US, as the major emitter historically
speaking and also today, takes significant action."
Delivering results
Several US cities and the state of California were taking steps to
reduce carbon emissions blamed by a UN climate panel for warming
that could cause seas to rise sharply, glaciers to melt and storms
and droughts to become more intense.
"It is now really a question of whether the (US) federal
administration...can find a way to see the global framework for
reducing emissions being influenced in such a way that is
compatible with national interests in America, but also delivers
results in terms of actual emissions reduction."
The Bali meeting approved a roadmap for two years of negotiations
to adopt a new treaty to succeed Kyoto beyond 2012.
It also widens Kyoto to include the United States and developing
nations like China and India.
A successor pact is meant to be agreed at a meeting in
Copenhagen in late 2009.
Agreement by 2009 would give governments time to ratify the pact
and give certainty to markets and investors wanting to switch to
cleaner energies, like wind and solar power.
The deal after two weeks of talks came when the United States
dramatically dropped opposition to a proposal by the main
developing-nation bloc, the G77, for rich nations to do more to
help the developing world fight rising greenhouse emissions.
The focus is now on forging an "equitable" framework that works for
nations, politically and economically - which experts say is one of
the most complex diplomatic puzzles ever.
"Historically speaking, it seems a small hurdle," Steiner said.
"But with the politics as they stand, it is still a major hurdle to
be overcome."