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Analysis of the Kyoto Global Climate Conference December 12, 1997 |
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Topics asked
in this forum:
A report from a correspondent in Japan. What reductions does the Kyoto agreement call for? Why has "global warming" become a big issue? Why were developing nations excluded from the agreement? Is there consensus amongst global leaders that global warming is for real? How should competing scientific claims about global warming be judged? Can the Kyoto Protocol be ratified by the Senate? Viewer comments.
NewsHour Coverage
December 11, 1997:
Two U.S. Senators discuss whether the Kyoto agreement will be ratified by the Senate.
December 10, 1997:
A member of the Clinton Administration reports on the negotiations in Kyoto.
December 9, 1997:
India's Ambassador to the U.S. explains why the developing nations should not be mandated to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
December 8, 1997:
The European Union's delegate to the U.S. talks about the rift between the E.U. and the U.S. at the Kyoto conference.
December 5, 1997:
A business leader questions the science behind global warming.
December 4, 1997:
A look at the the science and politics of global warming.
November 10, 1997:
An Online NewsHour forum on the U.S. plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
October 22, 1997:
A discussion of President Clinton's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
June 25, 1997:
President Clinton is backing the EPA's push for tougher air quality standards, but critics say they're too costly.
February 18, 1997:
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new clean air standardsthat have been criticized by some industry, state and local officials.
March 6, 1997:
The fastest rise in temperature for perhaps ten thousand years is having a dramatic effect on the brittle ecosystem of Antarctica.
January 4, 1996
British meteorologists report that the Earth's surface temperature was higher than the average in 1995.
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of science and the environment.
OUTSIDE LINKS:
Kyoto Conference
EPA on global warming
Global Climate Information Project
Environmental Defense Fund
Sierra Club's page on global warming
Global Change, a database of articles on climate change.
"These 10 days could change the history of humankind." This is what Japanese Foreign minister Keizo Obuchi told the 2,000 delegates at the U.N.-sponsored global climate conference currently meeting in Kyoto, Japan. The delegates, who represent over 150 nations, are trying to forge a treaty that would mandate reductions in the emission of greenhouse gases.
But when historians look back at Kyoto, will they see an opportunity missed?
For the most part, forecasts by foreign policy and environmental experts have been dim. Many predicted that the initial U.S. negotiating position, which calls for a return to 1990 emission levels by 2012 and the inclusion of developing countries in any treaty, would hinder any potential agreement.
"We are perfectly prepared to walk away from an agreement that we don't think will work," Vice President Gore said before heading to Kyoto to join the U.S. delegation. America's participation in any agreement drafted in Kyoto is considered critical because the U.S. emits a quarter of the world's greenhouse gases.
Despite a rocky beginning to the conference, negotiators were able to produce an agreement to reduce greenhouse gases after going into an 11th day of talks. The agreement calls for the 159 countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
Each country will have an individual reduction target to reach the world-wide reducation of 5.2 percent, although there are a few nations that will be allowed to increase their emissions. Under the draft proposal, the U.S. will reduce its emissions by seven percent below 1990 levels, the European Union's emissions will drop by eight percent and Japan's will reduce emmissions by six percent. Australia, on the other hand, is allowed to increase it emmissions by five percent.
Going into the conference, the U.S. had proposed stabilizing emissions at 1990 levels by 2012. The European Union had called for all developed nations to reduce their emissions by 15 percent by 2010, while Japan had called for a five percent reduction. The deal appears to be a compromise between those positions.
Consensus was also reached regarding the gases covered in the treaty. The U.S. had called for any treaty negotiated in Kyoto to cover six greenhouse gases -- three natural, three man-made -- while Japan and the E.U. only wanted negotiations to cover the three natural gases. It now appears that all six gases will be part of any deal.
But only 38 developed nations are mandated to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions; developing nations only have to set voluntary limits. That could doom U.S. ratification of the Kyoto protocol. The U.S. Senate, which will have to ratify the treaty, voted 95-0 to demand the participation of developing nations in any agreement while those countries have strongly resisted such efforts.
Our forum asks: How were the competing proposals in Kyoto be worked out? Should developing nations been included in this treaty? Will the Kyoto conference be judged as a failure or a success?
Your questions will be answered by two reporters from The Christian Science Monitor: Tokyo correspondent Cameron Barr and staff writer Brad Knickerbocker. Professor Charles Weiss, director of the Program in Science, Technology and International Affairs of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and Professor David Downie of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs will also take your questions.
Topics asked
in this forum:
A report from a correspondent in Japan. What reductions does the Kyoto agreement call for? Why has "global warming" become a big issue? Why were developing nations excluded from the agreement? Is there consensus amongst global leaders that global warming is for real? How should competing scientific claims about global warming be judged? Can the Kyoto Protocol be ratified by the Senate? Viewer comments.
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