BARCELONA, Spain — African countries boycotted meetings at U.N. climate talks Tuesday, saying that industrial countries had set carbon-cutting targets too low for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.
The action forced several technical meetings to be canceled. Delegates to this week's U.N. climate talks in Barcelona warned that, unless the African protest was settled, it could set back the timetable for concluding a new climate change pact at a major U.N. conference next month in Copenhagen.
The 50 or so African countries said they would only discuss pledges submitted by wealthy countries. Africans say they are the most vulnerable to climate change yet the least responsible for the accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere that is causing global warming.
A landmark 2007 U.N. report based on the work of about 2,000 scientists predicted Africa would suffer the most from drought, agricultural damage, rising sea levels threatening coastal areas and the spread of tropical pests and diseases.
A new study published Tuesday says the glaciers on Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, have lost 85 percent of the ice they had in 1912, with more than a quarter present in 2000 gone by 2007.
The study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, cited Earth's rising temperatures as at least a partial cause. It said similar changes have occurred at Mount Kenya and the Rwenzori Mountains in Africa, as well as at glaciers in South America and the Himalayas.
Scientists say industrial countries should reduce emissions by 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, but targets announced so far amount to far less than the minimum.
Talks were under way Tuesday to try to resume the closed-door meetings on technical issues related to emissions reductions, including identifying new greenhouse gases to be regulated and setting rules by which rich countries might offset emissions with green technology investments in poor countries.
In London, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon admitted Tuesday that the climate change treaty may not be resolved this year, as nations may be unable to commit to firm emissions limits at Copenhagen.
"Copenhagen will be a very important milestone. At the same time, realistically speaking, we may not be able to agree all the words," Ban said after holding talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Ban said he would push leaders to strike a pact in Copenhagen, but that it was more likely to be an agreement on principles — rather than specific targets for cuts.
"We need at this time the political will — if there is a political will, there is a way we can come to a binding agreement in Copenhagen," Ban said.
The Copenhagen deal would succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which called on 37 industrial countries to reduce emissions of heat-raising gases by an average 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. It made no demands on major developing countries like India and China. The United States was the only major greenhouse gas emitter to reject the Kyoto accord.
On Monday, the U.S. came under renewed pressure to declare its intentions at the U.N. talks before the decisive Copenhagen meeting from Dec. 7-18.
The U.S. says it is waiting for Congress to finish work on climate and energy legislation.
Those bills, unlikely to be completed before the Copenhagen summit, suggest the U.S. would cut emissions only about 4 percent below 1990 levels over the next decade.
This week Republican Party senators threatened to boycott some of the congressional meetings, demanding additional studies on the bill's cost and job impact.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in Washington on Tuesday to make the case for a global climate change deal to both chambers of Congress.
___
Science/Environment
November 3, 2009
Africans boycott meetings at UN climate talks
- Science/Environment
-
- Clean-coal project pushing for help from lawmakers Backers of the proposed $2 billion Cash Creek coal-gasification project in western Kentucky asked lawmakers Thursday to pass legislation that would force utilities to purchase the higher-priced electricity it would generate.
-
Coal legislators defend industry as activists call for change
Coal came under attack Thursday in Frankfort from a citizen activist group but not much is likely to change according to some key lawmakers.
- Grayson airs TV ad attacking Rand Paul on coal Republican Trey Grayson paints himself as pro-coal and pegs the perceived frontrunner in the U.S. Senate race as unfriendly to the mining industry in a political ad airing in the mining region of eastern Kentucky.
- Beleaguered US to blow up its chemical stockpiles Under the gun to destroy the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile — and now all but certain to miss their deadline — Army officials have a plan to hasten the process: Blow some of them up.
-
Appalachian strip mines have long-term environmental effect
Reclaimed surface mines in Central Appalachia have continuing environmental impact after their reclamation bonds are released but are not commonly monitored by state and federal regulators, says a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
- UN climate chief quits, leaves talks hanging The sharp-tongued U.N. official who shepherded troubled climate talks for nearly four years announced his resignation Thursday, leaving an uncertain path to a new treaty on global warming.
- Ky. National Guard adds solar panels to facility The Kentucky National Guard is going green.
- Bees impacted by mountaintop removal coal mining Mountaintop removal coal mining is destroying the flowering trees and plants that honey bees depend on for food in the central Appalachians.
-
Cold Spring man has eye on the sky
Fred Calvert doesn't have to go far for a view that's out of this world.
-
Still time for public to comment on Ky.'s forest
Kentuckians with an interest in the state's trees and forests are being asked to comment on a draft report that outlines forest-related issues.
- More Science/Environment Headlines
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
