India, China object to Bali climate draft
NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Dec 15 (Reuters) -
India and China objected on Saturday to a draft deal at U.N. talks in
Bali meant to launch negotiations on a global pact by 2009 to fight
climate change, saying rich nations should do more to lead the way.
After overnight talks lasting well beyond a Friday deadline, India
demanded changes to a final text at the 190-nation talks, saying rich
nations should do more to provide clean technology and finance to help
the poor fight global warming.
"The need of the hour is for enhanced commitments and instead we see
a huge watering down," said Indian delegate Chandrasekhar Dasgupta.
"This is a conspiracy," a Chinese delegate said of a draft text
presented on Saturday to delegates, many of whom had stayed up most of
the night in negotiations, by the Indonesian hosts of the two-week
meeting at a beach resort in Bali.
"We want the needs and demands of the G77 and China to be reflected
in the final text," Guoshun Sun, a senior Chinese delegate, told
Reuters.
"We can work very hard to come up with a text but that does not mean
we can sacrifice our position to have a watered down text. That is not
possible," Sun added.
If the dispute is resolved, the meeting would launch two years of
talks on a sweeping new worldwide treaty to succeed the U.N.'s Kyoto
Protocol beyond 2012 and link in outsiders including the United States
and all developing nations.
China and India, the number two and four emitters of greenhouse
gases, want concessions before committing to talks that would make them
do more to curb their soaring emissions. Kyoto sets greenhouse gas caps
for 37 developed nations.
And many developing nations are unhappy that the draft text cut out a
tough guideline for the rich to cut emissions of greenhouse gases,
mainly from burning fossil fuels, by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels
by 2020 to end a U.S.-European Union dispute.
"I am still optimistic," said German Environment Minister Sigmar
Gabriel, despite the deadlock. "Everything centres around the question
of how much is expected of industrial nations."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, trying to put pressure on
delegates to agree, arrived in Bali on Saturday morning for an
unscheduled return after a visit to East Timor. But he put off a planned
news conference as the talks dragged on. "Frustrated, the clock is
ticking and nothing's happening," U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer told
Reuters about his view of the meeting, meant to set a "roadmap" for a
deal to fight ever more powerful storms, droughts, heatwaves and rising
sea levels.
Soon after resuming on Saturday morning, the talks were suspended
with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda meeting developing
nations to discuss their demands. But Dutch Environment Minister
Jacqueline Cramer told Reuters the EU, which backed a draft text
presented earlier, said the Indian demands were "unacceptable to the EU".
Canada, an early objector to parts of the draft, also said it would
support the latest text. Tempers, stretched by days of late-night
sessions, showed signs of fraying.
A Chinese delegate demanded an apology from U.N. organisers when a
plenary session briefly reconvened when Wirajuda was still meeting with
developing nations.
Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar, hosting the
session, shot back: "Time is running out and technically we have to
conclude this session."
The United Nations says that a successor to Kyoto needs to be in
place by the end of 2009 to give three years to ratify and help guide
investors who want to know rules for carbon markets, for instance, or
coal-fired power plants. |