U.S. and France lock horns over pollution

Climate change talks are hotting up at The Hague

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands -- French President Jacques Chirac has launched a fierce attack on the U.S. accusing it of being the world's biggest single polluter.

And U.S. senators attending a U.N. conference on climate change, responded fiercely to his criticisms.

Chirac said: "The United States alone produces a quarter of the world's emissions. It is in the Americans, in the first place, that we place our hopes of effectively limiting greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale."

The European Union has also accused the U.S. of trying to avoid making real efforts to reduce emissions under a 1997 United Nations treaty.

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U.S. senators attending the climate conference, called to put flesh on the bones of an accord signed in the Japanese city of Kyoto three years ago, responded angrily, saying the French leader's comments were "unproductive."

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol calls for the reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide -- primarily from fossil fuels -- and other heat-trapping gases by an average 5.2 percent from their 1990 levels.

The main burden falls on the industrialised countries. Europe must cut emissions by eight percent, the U.S. by seven percent and Japan by six percent. The target date is 2012.

The U.S. has been criticised for what environmentalists and some governments say is an effort to wriggle out of its commitments.

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel said: "I don't believe President Chirac's statement was particularly helpful for the success of this conference.

"To single out the United States, as he did rather directly, does not facilitate a co-operative spirit."

Another Republican delegate, Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho admitted the U.S. was guilty of wasting energy but said this had brought benefits in science, technology and medicine.

Defending his own state's large agricultural output, Craig said two-thirds of U.S. farm production was exported to feed people around the world.

"Are (our farmers) large consumers of energy? Yes. Are they large producers? Yes. They're proud of it. The president's speech was very unproductive," Craig said.

Both senators said they wanted the U.S. to remain a part of the global process to tackle climate change.

Seven steps to save the planet

1.  An immediate halt to all oil exploration. 2.  A switch from fossil fuels to wind, wave and solar energy within 40 years. 3.  Mass production of solar panels to make solar power more affordable. 4.  All new homes to be built with highest possible energy saving standards. 5.  Insulation and energy efficiency increased on existing homes. 6.  Public transport and cycle routes improved, and people encouraged to walk rather than drive. 7.  Campaigns to educate the public on energy efficiency.

Some 180 countries are meeting in The Hague this week to try to thrash out a firm action plan to meet the Kyoto targets. An initial round of negotiations last week failed to break the impasse.

Chirac said: "The countries concerned must channel the bulk of their efforts to curb emissions through national or regional measures. No country can elude its share of the collective effort."

Chirac said society needed to undergo a "revolution in our way of thinking" and change the way economies consume natural resources.

"We have to contend with pressures from those with a vested interest in taking the easy route or immobility, the immediate interests of those who profit from wasted energy."

The European Union has urged the industrialised world to take tough action by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide.

But the U.S. and others prefer market-based measures such as a system of trading emissions credits -- buying pollution quotas from nations who easily meet their own emission reduction targets.

This would allow the U.S. to avoid unpopular steps at home, such as higher energy taxes on industry and consumers.

However, the French leader, who currently also holds the presidency of the 15-nation EU, made one conciliatory gesture towards Washington.

He appeared to offer some support to a U.S. idea of using new and existing forests and farmland to soak up pollution, so-called carbon "sinks."

"If it were to be (scientifically) confirmed that reforestation, the fight against desertification and the fight against global warming can be mutually reinforcing, then we would be wrong to rule out this course."

The EU has so far opposed the carbon "sink" idea, put forward by the U.S., Japan and Canada as a way to offset some of their emissions reduction targets.

Leaders gather for crucial climate change summit
November 19, 2000

United Nations framework on climate change
ECO -- The Climate Action Network
European Union
US State Department - Policy - Global Affairs
Kyoto climate change agreement

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