Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
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On April 27, 2008, the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate brought together representatives from 16 of the world's leading economies, and the largest producers of greenhouse gasses. Held in Washington, DC, and led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the meeting was envisioned by President Barack Obama as a means of preparing the nations responsible for 75% of global emissions of heat-trapping gases for the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December.
At the December meeting, 175 nations will work to draft a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Clinton opened the meeting by explaining that the United States was committed to fighting climate change, but that no single nation could do it alone. She said:
There is no sense in negotiating an agreement if it will have no practical impact in reducing emissions to safer levels...we all have to do our part, and we need to be creative and think hard about what will work in order for us to achieve the outcomes we hope for.
She also indicated that the United States would require a plan to force developing nations, like India and China, to reduce emissions. Developing nations oppose such a deal, which was absent from the Kyoto Protocol, citing a need to continue building their economies and that many developing nation's rely on manufacture for export. Clinton confronted these points, explaining that:
Of course each economy represented here is different. And some, like mine, is responsible for past emissions, some for quickly growing present emissions...but people everywhere have a legitimate aspiration for a higher standard of living...We just hope we can work together in a way to avoid the mistakes that we made that have created a large part of the problem that we face today.
Still, concerns that disagreements over this issue, the major reason George W. Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, will lead to a breakdown in talks this December remain. "I walk away more optimistic," U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change Todd Stern said upon leaving the talks, but, he added that "it does not change the fact that the issues are extremely difficult, that it is not going to be easy to reach agreement."
Coming to an agreement will be a challenge but it is not impossible. The first Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate gave us several reasons to be optimistic and, hopefully, further discussion between now and December will lay the groundwork needed to reach a definitive international agreement on climate change policy.
Find out more about environmental politics and issues in Focus Earth: May 2, 2009: DC Climate Talks and the First Hundred Days.
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