Blair makes his decision to go out to America on the 11/11.

What will be at the forefront of the negotiating table?

Kyoto protocol on climate change? No chance.

Whilst emission control and other environmental policy efforts are essential to the future wellbeing of us all, let's not get to wound up about Kyoto.

The US, it's true, is responsible for 36% of emissions, and they haven't ratified. Countries like China and India have ratified. Now, because China is viewed as a 'developing nation' there are no legal constraints on it. So it can ratify and carry on regradless, and the developing world creates a lot of emissions. India is also viewed as a developing nation. Funny how countries with nuclear weapons, highly developed technical infrastructures and space programmes (the latter China) can be viewed as developing when it suits the politicians.

If the US ratifies it becomes, like all developed nations, legally bound to act on it. I can see the point of the US in some respects - Kyoto does appear to offer competitive advantage to countries in the developing world, and the US has always been protectionist about it's own industries.

Russia ratified after the EU managed to get it some favourable terms from the WTO. (Russia accounts for 17% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions).

The US has undertaken to meet similar targets that it would be expected to meet by the Kyoto Accord under something called the Clear Skies Initiative - something that seems to get forgotten by the folks bashing the US for not ratifying Kyoto.

What surely matters is what's being done, rather than what bits of paper are signed. If the US meets some or all of what it would be expected to meet under Kyoto without damaging it's economy, what's the problem?

Joe

If the US are going to meet the Kyoto agreements anyway, why don't they just sign the damn thing?

The trouble is that the current administration view any sort of agreement with anyone as compromise and hence weakness. They think they should be allowed to do what they like and the rest of the world has to fit in with them.

I admit, it does seem like that is the case at the moment, but things change. Who would have thought 200 years ago that the US would now be pushing the world around?

Originally posted by Yodameister
If the US are going to meet the Kyoto agreements anyway, why don't they just sign the damn thing?

The trouble is that the current administration view any sort of agreement with anyone as compromise and hence weakness. They think they should be allowed to do what they like and the rest of the world has to fit in with them.

I admit, it does seem like that is the case at the moment, but things change. Who would have thought 200 years ago that the US would now be pushing the world around?

The WAY in which emissions have to be controlled under Kyoto is specified in such a way that the US would suffer economically. Other developed nations that have implemented Kyoto have also suffered financially to some degree.

If they sign, they're legally bound. At least they're not being hypocritical about it.

Joe