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As delegates to a global climate change meeting work to reach consensus, China and the U.S. are objecting to proposed emission caps. The world’s two largest polluters argue the targets are too low, and reaching them would be too expensive. They are expected to attempt to insert language into the final report that would weaken the conclusion that quick action can stabilize greenhouse gas levels.

Delegates to a climate change conference expressed confidence Thursday that they can overcome China and India’s objections to a report mapping out measures to combat global warming.

The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — the United Nations network of 2,000 scientists — calls for fast action to avoid catastrophe. However, some of the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, including the United States, have disputed the recommendations, leaving scientists worried that officials might water down the report due out Friday.

The report must be unanimously approved by all 120-plus governments represented at the conference, and all changes must be approved by the scientists.

French delegate Michel Petit said the debate, which was not open to reporters, was going “more smoothly than we anticipated.”

Who’s Responsible?

“China and India were the governments having more questions and requesting changes in the existing text,” he said, “but up to now, every time we were able to overcome their concerns and come to an agreement.”

In two previous reports this year, the scientists said global warming is being caused largely by the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere and predicted catastrophic consequences unless humans stop burning coal, oil and other fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases.

The latest report is expected to urge countries to deploy an array of measures — including energy-efficient technologies, a shift away from coal, and agricultural reforms — to keep world temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), thereby limiting the impact of global warming.

China, the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the United States, has indicated it wants the report to better reflect its belief that richer countries are responsible for global warming and should take the lead in cleaning up the problem, delegates said.

“China is being the most vocal about the language,” said Edward Mulbah, a delegate from Liberia. “They don’t want to be held responsible for consequences in the future.”

A member of the Chinese delegation refused to discuss specifics of its demands, other than to say China wanted the document to reflect scientific truth.

Place for Nuclear Power

China also has joined with the United States to suggest the proposed cap on greenhouse gas levels is too low and reaching the target would be too expensive. The two countries are expected to attempt to insert language into the final report that would weaken the conclusion that quick action can stabilize greenhouse gas levels.

India, for its part, has objected to language that says significant emission cuts can be made in developing countries, delegates said. India argues that development must come ahead of caps on emissions.

However, delegates said scientists had overcome most of the objections from India and China, providing data on such basic issues as how mitigation measures corresponded to various emission levels.

Delegates also were debating different categories of energy use and ways to cut emissions, working into the night so negotiations could be wrapped up Thursday.

One contentious issue has been whether and how to refer to nuclear power in the final summary. The United States is pushing for a strong reference to atomic energy as a clean source of electricity. Environmentalists are arguing that other ways of cutting carbon emissions, such as renewable energy sources, should get priority.

Many environmentalists consider nuclear energy too dangerous and costly to be a serious means of cutting greenhouse gases. “We don’t believe that nuclear is a solution,” said Stephan Singer of the World Wildlife Fund.

Species Threatened With Extinction

Singer also called for governments and business leaders to quicken the pace of mitigation, saying “this can be done much faster than most governments want us to believe.

“The current IPCC debate, the current documents, and the fight about this — and then about the economic costs — are a reflection on the commonly perceived thinking that fighting climate change costs a lot of money, will harm the economy, will burden citizens, and will compromise the necessary economic growth and poverty alleviation in many countries,” he said. “That is … utter nonsense.”

The two previous IPCC reports said unabated greenhouse gas emissions could drive global temperatures up as much as 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.

Even a rise of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit could subject up to 2 billion people, mostly in the developing world, to water shortages by 2050 — and threaten extinction for 20 percent to 30 percent of the world’s species, the IPCC said.

© 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
© 2007 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.

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