Australia to press for "New Kyoto" at UN talks
By Howart Dan,WNS Australia Bureau Chief
SYDNEY - Australia, an outsider at a major UN conference on climate change in Nairobi because it refuses to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, will press for a "New Kyoto" deal, the government said Monday. Environment Minister Ian Campbell said there was growing support for the idea from countries disillusioned with the current plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. "There is great enthusiasm for Australia's position on 'New Kyoto'," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "Even the existing Kyoto signatories know it's not working and we need a better agreement."
Macfarlane will represent Australia at the UN conference in Nairobi this week, but the country's delegation has been sidelined with observer status because of its refusal to ratify the protocol. The government's proposal for a "New Kyoto" has been dismissed by critics, including the Australian Green Party. "It's just seen as a joke," said Greens Senator Christine Milne, who is in Nairobi for the meeting. The Australian delegation is viewed as "a sideshow to the main game," she told ABC radio. Australia and the United States are the only countries to have refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, charging that it could harm their economies and that developing countries do not face the same restrictions.
But in the face of Australia's worst drought in a century and voters' calls for action on climate change, Prime Minister John Howard's government has recently dropped its public scepticism over global warming. Last month, as scientific evidence of the economic consequences of climate change mounted, Howard announced that A$500 million (US$385 million) would be spent on a series of clean energy initiatives. In Nairobi this week, the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is expected to draw 6,000 experts, officials and lobbyists from 189 nations. Delegates at the conference are focusing on the future after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
posted by wnsworld @ 11:32 AM
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