Bali: Hopes fade for a breakthrough as EU and US go head-to-head on C02 targets
We're into the second week of the Bali climate convention now, and mutterings that 'nothing much is happening' are getting louder by the day. Al Gore was quoted yesterday as being hopeful that a 'breakthrough' could happen at the 11th hour, but his optimism seems misplaced today as European delegates lock horns with their American counterparts over Bush's refusal to impose binding targets on emissions.
The squabbling began when EU officials said that president Bush's climate change meeting next month in Hawaii will be "meaningless" if Bali did not produce a more "ambitious roadmap".
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This would crucially involve Washington setting - and sticking to - strict C02 targets. This all feels a bit deja-vu considering that the United States, currently the biggest global polluter, has thus far refused to accept the Kyoto protocol.
With negotiations remaining in deadlock, it seems sad that the most important discussion on climate change since Kyoto is, as yet, failing to make any real progress. Let's hope that Al is right and the convention's final hours will see party politics put aside in favour of some exciting and positive plans for change.
