Representatives from 17 major economies plus the United Nations
called for rapid progress in implementing the Bali roadmap as they
wrapped up a two-day closed-door meeting on climate change on
Thursday.
The participants "welcomed the Bali Action Plan to launch a
comprehensive process to enable a full, effective and sustained
implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) to result in a decision in 2009 for a long-term
cooperative action," said James Connaughton, chairman of the White
House Council on Environmental Quality at the press event after the
meeting.
They "underscored the importance of rapid progress in
implementing the Bali Action Plan and noted that Major Economies
Meetings can assist the UNFCCC toward a successful outcome,"
Connaughton said.
Describing the atmosphere of the meeting as "constructive",
Connaughton said the participants have been focusing on how the
US-sponsored meeting can contribute to the climate change
negotiations under the UN framework.
The discussion took into account common but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities, he noted.
Using political jargons, the official said the participants also
discussed the "desirability" of a summit by participating countries
in mid-2008.
Known as the Major Economics Meeting on Energy Security and
Climate Change, the Honolulu meeting serves as a follow-up to the
first round of US-hosted climate change talks among major economies
last September in Washington.
The idea of bringing together the world's major economies for
climate change talks was initiated by US President George W. Bush
in May 2007, when the United States was under growing pressure to
contribute more to solving the problem of greenhouse-gas
emissions.
Although the Bush administration repeatedly said the meeting is
simply to supplement the UN efforts in battling climate change,
there are suspicions that it is intended to sidetrack the UN
climate talks and push forward its own agenda on the issue, which
the US government denies.
At the climate change talks in Bali, Indonesia, last December,
the US government agreed to help constitute a new accord to replace
the emissions-limiting Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
However, it is still resisting a global agreement on specific
emission reduction from all developed nations.
At the Honolulu meeting, US officials reiterated that the
country has different understandings on mandatory pollution
reduction with the rest of the world.
"We have our own views on the issue," Connaughton said.
Some 160 representatives from the EU, the United Nations,
Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy,
Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Britain and the United States
attended the conference.
(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2008)
