NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, June 15, 2001

The EU countries - none of which have ratified the treaty they frequently attack the U.S. about - claimed they would do so independently, after what U.S. and European officials said was "an interesting and open dialogue."

"We recognize that climate change is a pressing issue that requires a global solution," said the jointly produced Gothenburg statement.

For that reason, they will cooperate on research and work in other international forums to control "greenhouse gases."

"The U.S. and the EU are both committed to providing strong leadership on climate change. Prompt, effective and sustainable action is needed, consistent with the ultimate objective of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere," the joint statement went on.

"We are determined to meet our national commitments and our obligations under the UNFCCC through a variety of flexible means, drawing on the power of markets and technology," the joint statement pledged.

American opposition to the Kyoto Protocol (rejected 95-0 in the U.S. Senate) has been one of the main difficulties looming over this European trip. Bush has said the protocol could inhibit economic growth needed to finance more effective measures in the future. He also has noted that the protocol fails to include fast-growing and huge developing countries such as China and India.

Environmental groups hailed the European Union for its claim that it will ratify Kyoto irrespective of the American decision. World Wildlife Fund said it would step up its own campaigns to get other industrial countries such as Japan and Russia to ratify Kyoto soon.

"WWF is delighted that the EU did not blink," said Andrew Kerr of WWF's Climate Change Campaign.

"Europe has today given a major new impetus to international efforts against global warming and has significantly increased the chances of the Kyoto agreement being finalized at July's global climate summit," Kerr said.

Up to the last minute, U.S. and European officials had sought a formula to avoid the need to publicly disagree in the Gothenburg statement. Swedish diplomats said they thought they had neared a deal under which the United States would have agreed to treat Kyoto as "a basis for future discussion," but this effort failed.

The final statement read: "We disagree on the Kyoto protocol and its ratification, but we are determined to work together in all relevant fora to address climate change and will participate constructively in the resumed COP 6 [global climate summit] in Bonn. Our efforts must ultimately result in an outcome that protects the environment and ensures economic growth compatible with our shared objective of sustainable development for present and future generations."

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

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