After long delays and all-night negotiations, political leaders at the UN climate conference in Bali finally hammered out a deal that will launch negotiations to put the world on a path towards deeper emission cuts after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
It was a long, exhausting process that went 24 hours into overtime. But in the end, Canada and the U.S. bowed to pressure and agreed to stop blocking progress.
The two-week conference produced a "Bali road map," which could put the world on a path to deeper emissions cuts after 2012. The road map includes a range of emission reductions for developed countries of 25 to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
The final hours of the negotiations were extremely dramatic and often emotional. During one stalemate, a clearly frustrated and disappointed Yvo de Boer, the UN's climate chief, broke down in tears and left the stage.
Talks were on the brink of falling apart after the U.S. stood firm in its position that a Bali road map must include a special exemption for weaker U.S. targets.
But a few hours later, after intense international pressure, the U.S. caved and agreed to move forward with the rest of the world.
Later in the afternoon, Canada stood alone with Russia in supporting an option for the Bali road map that ignored strong science. Country after country spoke out in favour of including the strong scientific language in the deal. Canada eventually backed down and changed its position so as not to block the overwhelming consensus.
Canadian environmental groups gave the deal a qualified welcome (read our news release here).
It's great that political leaders in Bali were able to come to an agreement on the need for deeper targets beyond 2012. Now it's time to start turning talk into action.
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Viking
Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called "consensus" on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore.
So much for a consensus, eh ?.
Look here===> http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=f80a6386-802a-23ad-40c8-3c63dc2d02cb
Richard Lander
I moved to the US back in 2000. At the time, I thought that Canada was the real leader and that the US was the backwards one. Bit by bit since then, I've come to realize that Canada is not all that progressive in some pretty important areas. The environment is clearly one of them, and that's so incredibly disappointing. I'm much less surprised that the US and Russia are in the pro-industrial camp. Canada is pretty easily swayed, and apparently our negotiators wait until the last moment to pull away from a pretty obviously broken direction. And lets not even get started on stewardship of Lake Ontario
Viking
Once again my comments have failed to be posted because I presented a dissenting viewpoint. If you feel so sure about global warming, er, Climate Change, then you shouldn't have to worry about other view points. Then again, you might be afraid of loosing adherents to the religion of Global Warming if they discovered that there are over 400 reputable scientists who dispute it. http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=f80a6386-802a-23ad-40c8-3c63dc2d02cb
lora bruncke
Viking:
Simple science tells me mankind stands to lose his race to be human.
Global warming aka climate change is one consequence of both high volcanic activity and the burning of fossil fuels.
Volcanoes are uncontrollable (as far as we know).
On the other hand, we can control our power sources. How much more deadly smoke do WE, THE PEOPLE really want to pour into our breathable air space.
Thanks for presenting your viewpoint. I will review the US Senate site.
Lora
Rick
its good to see a Breakthrough in Bali it been a long time coming