German chancellor Angela Merkel has said she wants to offer developing countries a compromise climate change pact based on population size, but warned on Friday that negotiations would be tough.
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Merkel, who helped draw up the Kyoto Protocol on climate change as Germany’s environment minister in 1997, made global warming and talks over a deal to succeed the protocol the focus of her three-day visit to Japan, according to a Reuters report.
“The question is: at what point can we involve developing countries, and what kind of measure do we use to create a just world?” Merkel was quoted as saying in Kyoto, where the 1997 protocol was agreed.
According to the news agency, Merkel suggested that developing countries should be allowed to increase their emissions per capita while industrialised national cut theirs, until both sides reach the same level.
She brought up the proposal when she met officials in China before travelling to Japan, but the Chinese were sceptical, according to the German delegation, Reuters said.
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By GlobalData“Once (developing countries) reach the level of industrialised countries, the reduction begins,” Merkel reportedly said.
Reuters noted that a similar idea was fielded by Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh during the G8 summit with major developing countries in Germany in June.
Under the Kyoto pact, 35 developed nations are obliged to cut emissions by 5% below 1990 levels by 2008-2012, the report said, adding that developing nations, many of which have signed the protocol, are not obliged to make any reductions during the pact’s first phase – a concession that saw the United States and Australia pull out of the pact.
Both nations, among the world’s top per-capita polluters, say it’s unfair that large developing nations such as China, India and Indonesia, are excluded and view the pact as bad for their economies, Reuters said.
The news agency noted that many developing countries, in turn, are worried that strict environmental regulations will hamper economic growth, and demand that industrialised nations, as chief polluters, bear the brunt of emission cuts. In turn, wealthy nations with relatively small populations and large industries fear a per-capita target could hurt them.
Reuters said per-capita carbon dioxide emissions currently are far higher in rich economies than in their poorer counterparts. The US produces about 20 tonnes of CO2 a year per capita, Germany 11 tonnes and the European Union an average of nine tonnes, according to the German government, while China, on the other hand, churns out only 3.5 tonnes a year per head – the global average is 4.2 tonnes.
The report said Merkel repeated the aim was to halve global CO 2 emissions by 2050. “That’s a very big goal, but it’s the consensus among experts. If we can’t reach that, we’ll pay for it dearly,” she said, according to Reuters. “If we don’t do anything, we have to expect considerable changes in our climate.”
The news agency said the United Nations is holding a major meeting on climate change in December on the Indonesian island of Bali and backers want delegates to agree to launch talks on a new climate pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which runs out in 2012.
According to Reuters, Merkel said targets included in the Kyoto Protocol had not been reached – the European Union has only achieved a 1.9% cut so far compared to a targeted 8% reduction while emissions have increased in Japan, which had pledged to cut them by 6%.
Last month, Fiat CEO and European automakers group (ACEA) head Sergio Marchionne told European members of parliament (MEPs) in Strasbourg that the target for the European vehicle industry of 130g CO2 per kilometre by 2012 was not feasible and claimed it would “force our innovative industry out of Europe, without benefiting the environment in an even vaguely to sufficient way”.
He argued that CO2 emissions from new cars had decreased significantly over the past decade and that most emissions today are caused by an ageing car fleet on Europe’s roads, by growing congestion, by a lack of traffic management and by a rise in mileage.
He said vehicle technology would continue to improve but stressed that alone would not solve the problem and should therefore not be the only focus point of future policy framework.
