Bali Roadmap could succeed Kyoto Protocol in global warming world pact

William Atkins
Saturday, 15 December 2007 19:56

Science - Climate

At a United Nations climate conference, world leaders agreed on Saturday, December 15, 2007, to negotiate a new global warming pact by 2009.           

The U.N. conference (“United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali”) was hosted by the government of Indonesia. It brought together over ten thousand participants, most representing over 180 countries from around the world. Others participated from non-governmental organizations and media groups.

Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky, leader of the U.S. delegation, had initially refused to agree to the Bali Roadmap, but reversed the U.S. position and, in the end, agreed to negotiate with other member nations.

The U.S. delegation had disagreements with the wording of the Bali Roadmap as proposed by developing countries and the countries of Europe. Most of the argument was between developed countries, especially the United States, and still developing nations, such as China and India.

The debate got so angry at times that the U.S. delegation was booed by the other side and in one instance was told by one frustrated delegate, “If you are not willing to lead, then get out of the way!" [CBC News “U.S. Bends To Critics, OKs Climate Roadmap”]

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a last-minute statement to convince the sides to compromise on the plan so that negotiations could go forward. In the end, the U.N. leader succeeded.

If agreed upon by member nations, the Bali Roadmap could help to establish how the countries of the world deal with reducing the amount of emissions of greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The document agreed upon by member nations, as stated in the CBS article, “does not commit countries to specific actions against global warming. It was limited to setting an agenda and schedule for negotiators to find ways to reduce pollution and help poor countries adapt to environmental changes by speeding up the transfer of technology and financial assistance.”

Additional information from around the world can be found at these following websites.

Fox News (U.S.A.): http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316931,00.html

AFP/NUSA DUA (Indonesia): http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hAgCbG3KOc_xNNAeqlSJwPAmYhTw

Xinhua (China): http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/15/content_7257084.htm

Jerusalem Post (Israel): http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1196847260923&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The Australian (Australia): http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22906686-11949,00.html

Please continue to search the Internet to find different perspectives from around the world of the environmental conference, which has just concluded.