U.S. target of pollution blame

French president blasts Americans at U.N. conference

French President Jacques Chirac accused the United States of producing a quarter of the world's emissions at a U.N. conference on climate change.

November 20, 2000
Web posted at: 2:22 PM EST (1922 GMT)

THE HAGUE, the Netherlands -- French President Jacques Chirac has launched a fierce attack on the United States at a U.N. conference on climate change, accusing it of being the world's biggest single polluter.

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"The United States alone produces a quarter of the world's emissions," he said. "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 accused the United States of trying to avoid making real efforts to reduce emissions under a 1997 United Nations treaty.

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.

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.

The main burden falls on the industrialized countries. Europe must cut emissions by 8 percent, the United States by 7 percent and Japan by 6 percent. The target date is 2012.

The United States has been criticized for what environmentalists and some governments say is an effort to wriggle out of its commitments.

Some 180 countries are meeting in the Hague this week to set out a firm action plan for the treaty's targets. An initial round of negotiations last week failed to break the impasse.

Chirac added: "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.

"Cutting down on our consumption of raw materials, diversifying our sources of supply, recycling waste, (using) new materials, energy efficiency and developing renewable energies: These are the choices that ought to inspire us in our policy making," he said.

"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."

While the European Union has urged the industrialized world to take tough action by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide, the United States and others prefer market-based measures such as buying the right to pollute elsewhere.

They have suggested doing this by trading emissions credits -- buying pollution quotas from nations who easily meet emission reduction targets set in Kyoto, Japan.

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

However, the French leader, who also holds the presidency of the 15-nation EU, made one conciliatory gesture toward the United States.

He appeared to offer some support, over the long term, 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 decertification 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 United States, Japan and Canada as a way to offset some of their emissions reduction targets.

Chirac made no reference to the role of nuclear power in the climate change debate.

Although France relies heavily on nuclear energy -- which does not produce the carbon dioxide that comes from fossil fuels -- for electricity, the official EU position is to exclude the technology from the climate pact.

Environmentalists argue that nuclear power is so expensive that the same money invested in energy efficiency or even in gas-fired power plants would offset far more climate change.

The only industry sector Chirac highlighted was air travel, repeating the EU call for aviation fuel to be taxed -- something that would have to be agreed to at an international level.

Scientists say the Earth's temperature could rise by up to 6 degrees Centigrade (10.8 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, with devastating consequences on the environment and human life.