Britain is to push for pollution from the global aviation and shipping industries to be included in a new international agreement on climate change at a meeting in Bali, beginning yesterday.
Action on greenhouse gas emissions from international travel and trade is among eight points that British and European negotiators intend to pursue at the meeting, which aims to set the framework for a global treaty to replace the Kyoto protocol when it runs out in 2012. The two-week Bali meeting will not produce such a deal, but officials hope it will launch serious negotiations in time for an agreement in two or three years' time, as well as set out the likely scope and timetable.
Kyoto does not include carbon emissions from international aviation and shipping. They are usually excluded from national calculations, including Britain's new climate change bill, which aims to cut carbon pollution 60% by 2050.
Europe is concerned that the expected rises in aviation and shipping emissions could cancel out gains made elsewhere, though officials concede any agreement to regulate them worldwide would be difficult to achieve.
Britain will also push for agreement on: a long-term goal to stabilise carbon emissions or temperature rise; deeper cuts by developed countries; further "fair and effective" contributions from developing nations, such as China; extension of carbon markets; cooperation on clean technology research and transfer; efforts to help vulnerable regions adapt to global warming; and ways to protect tropical forests.
The first week of the talks will aim to iron out differences between countries before senior politicians arrive next week. Green groups say the Bali meeting, the latest in an annual sequence of climate summits held by the UN, is the most important since the talks in Kyoto in 1997.
Ashok Sinha of Stop Climate Chaos, said: "It's deal or no deal at the UN talks at Bali. World leaders must take concrete steps to negotiate a fair and binding international agreement to fight climate chaos in the face of a post Kyoto vacuum in 2012. New deals take time to set up. Next year will be too late. Governments need to recognise the 2C global warming danger threshold in order to frame all carbon reduction policies and laws around the world."
British officials are not yet certain whether the US will engage with the process in Bali or attempt to block progress, as they have in the past. Although a successor to President George Bush will be in place in time to sign any new agreement in 2009, US involvement this week is seen as crucial to bringing large developing countries such as China and India on board.
Joseph Zacune, international climate campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said: "Industrialised nations must commit to stringent targets and timetables that ensure emissions peak by 2015 and continue to fall.
"A comprehensive range of mitigation and adaptation efforts are needed, including changes in the lifestyle and unsustainable consumption patterns of the richer industrialised nations. They are responsible for the pollution causing climate change and must repay their ecological debt to poor communities who are bearing the brunt of its damaging effects. These countries need funds to help vulnerable communities adapt and build resilience against climate change impacts."
One aspect of the talks will be a way to stop deforestation, which is reckoned to emit more greenhouse gases than global transport. Tropical countries such as Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea are keen to be rewarded for protecting their remaining forests, though concerns over how such promises could be verified have dogged similar suggestions in the past. Reforestation projects were allowed under the Kyoto protocol, but the question of avoiding deforestation was not addressed.
Another focus will be how rich countries pay to help developing nations cope with the impact of changing weather patterns. Figures released last month show that hundreds of millions of pounds promised in 2001 have yet to be delivered.
FAQ The key issues
What is the Bali meeting about?
Under the auspices of the UN, in Bali, Indonesia, 180 countries will meet to set an agenda and then start negotiations on a new international climate change agreement. This two-week conference will not deliver it, but it is seen as the starting block of the race to get a global deal by 2009
What are the key areas to be debated?
The UN wants a "shared vision" of the global ambition that will be needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change. This will be scientifically led and is expected to be an agreement to limit the Earth's average temperature increase to no more than 2C above the pre-industrial level. This foresees emissions peaking in the next 10-15 years and then being rapidly cut by 50% of the 1990 levels by 2050
Is this ambitious?
Yes, but energy-profligate developed countries expect to bear the brunt of this and may press to reduce emissions 30% by 2020 and 60-80% by 2050
Will the US agree to this?
We do not know. George Bush will be the spectre at the feast, but as there will be a new US administration after 2008, America is not expected to obstruct the negotiations as it has consistently done to date. It has said it will sign a deal that draws in all countries
What about rapidly developing countries?
The big five - China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico - hopefully will work together and insist that developed nations bear the main responsibility for climate change, and now must lead the way in reducing emissions. These nations will not agree to anything that threatens their economic development
What is there of benefit to the very poor countries?
This is the best chance they have had in years to persuade rich countries to help them more. New money for adaptation to climate change is their absolute priority. They have contributed the least to the changes happening with climates but are already bearing the brunt. They will negotiate to be paid for not cutting down their forests, and can expect to gain if the global carbon market is strengthened at Bali. The more rich countries agree to cut back, the more, in principle, poor countries stand to gain
Is there a mechanism under which all countries can agree to differ?
Not yet. But a system of equal emission rights per person is now seen as essential, with all countries reducing or being allowed to increase emissions over a period of time to "meet" at a globally agreed point in the future.
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