Late-breaking news : Thursday 12 Nov
Updates brought to you by the ENB team members throughout the day:
Kazakhstans Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Dr. Serikbek ZH. Daukeev, has
told the high level segment that his country intends to enter Annex B of the Kyoto
Protocol and take on obligations to abate greenhouse gas emissions. He added: "We
support an objective and reasonable target for the first budget period, which includes
abatement measures for GHG emissions but which does not create barriers to economic
development."
Real Audio: Kazakhstan announces readiness to
enter Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol and assume a commitment to abatement of GHGs.
The United States Climate Action Network has responded to the US decision to
sign the Kyoto Protocol. Spokesperson Jennifer Morgan of the WWF welcomed the decision as
a "necessary step" but contrasted it with the more significant question of a
strong programme of domestic action for the United States. She added: "In Buenos
Aires the US has only stepped on to the dance floor and has yet to learn the dance steps
for the tango to really begin."
RealAudio of Jennifer
Morgan's statement
From the
ENB New York Office: A. Peter Burleigh, Charge dAffaires of the United States
Mission to the United Nations, signed the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change, at 3:00 pm, Thursday 12 November, at UN Headquarters. The United States is
the sixtieth nation to sign the Protocol. In a brief statement, Ambassador Burliegh cited
the signing of the Protocol as a reaffirmation of US commitment to working with other
nations to address the challenge of climate change. He also said that signing the Protocol
serves US environmental, economic and national goals. He noted participation of key
developing countries, carbon trading and the Clean Development Mechanism as issues that
still must be addressed.
With less
than twenty-four hours of scheduled conference time remaining at COP-4, the sounds of
"table thumping" are emerging from ministerial sessions set up to make the
political decisions on some key outcomes. Ministers are reported to be using initial
meetings to re-state long held positions. COP-4 President, Maria Julia Alsogaray
(Argentina) has set up a high level structure for input from the ministers and is pressing
ministers to begin drafting agreed text. An extended bureau has been created to oversee
the progress of a core group and four working groups of ministers and country
representatives dealing with: Kyoto mechanisms (formerly known as the flexibility
mechanisms); non-Annex I communications; COP/MOP-1; UNFCCC Articles 4.3 (a) and (b);
and the combined issues of technology transfer, the Kyoto Mechanisms, Activities
Implemented Jointly, and UNFCCC Articles 4.8 and 4.9 on adverse impacts and compensation.
Reports from the working groups are going back to the core group with three
representatives of the G-77, one from the EU and one from the Umbrella Group.
|
UNITED STATES TO SIGN KYOTO PROTOCOL
The United States has announced that it is to sign the
Kyoto Protocol in New York. Speaking at the High Level session at COP-4 in Buenos Aires,
Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and
Agricultural Affairs, received warm applause when he said that the US would honor its
pledge in Kyoto in 1997. He added: "In taking this action the US reaffirms our
commitment to work with the nations gathered here to address the challenge of climate
change. We are guided by the firm belief that signing will serve our environmental,
economic and national security goals. Kyoto is a landmark achievement but it is a work in
progress and key issues remain outstanding, As an original signatory to the Protocol the
US will be able to play a stronger and more effective role in resolving these
issues."
RealAudio from the COP-4 High Level Segment:
At the opening of
the high-level segment the UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Michael Zammit Cutajar, informed
the Conference of the Parties that ministers were getting down to business
Panangian Siregar,
Minister of State for Environmental Affairs, Indonesia, speaking on behalf of the
G-77/China, challenged developed countries to honor their commitment to lead and sounded a
warning about the imposition of conditionalities
Martin Bartenstein,
Federal Minister for the Environment, Youth and Family Affairs, Austria, speaking on
behalf of the European Union, outlined the issue areas where progress is necessary
Stuart Eizenstat, United
States Undersecretary of State for Business, Commerce, Economic and Agricultural Affairs,
announces the US decision to sign the Kyoto Protocol and outlines outstanding issues in
the negotiations
Ritt Bjerregaard,
Commissioner for Environment of the European Community, supports prioritization of the
CDM, domestic action and compliance
Amb. Tuiloma Neroni
Slade, Permanent Representative Mission of the Independent State of Samoa, speaking on
behalf of the AOSIS group
UK Deputy Prime
Minister, John Prescott, gives a characteristically frank assessment of the negotiations
and tells negotiators that "sympathy is not good enough"
US Senator Joseph Lieberman (on the left) being congratulated after the US
announced that it would sign the Kyoto Protocol |
US Senator Chuck Hagel, Nebraska, said in signing the Kyoto Protocol, the
President blatantly contradicts the will of the US Senate |
Amb. Tuiloma Neroni Slade, Permanent Representative Mission of the
Independent State of Samoa |
Stuart Eizenstat, US
Undersecretary of State |
Panangian Siregar, Minister of State for Environmental Affairs, Indonesia,
speaking on behalf of the G-77/China |
Martin Bartenstein, Federal Minister for the Environment, Youth and Family
Affairs, Austria, speaking on behalf of the European Union and its member States |
Ritt Bjerregaard,
Commissioner for Environment of the European Community |
Guido Di Tella, Foreign Minister, Argentina |
Souty Toure, Minister of the Environment and of the Protection of Nature,
Senegal |
Jennifer Morgan, World Wide Fund for Nature, gave Chris Spence, ENB, an
NGO perspective on the US signing of the Kyoto Protocol |
Noel Dempsey, Minister for the Environment and Local Governments, Ireland |
Conference participants watch the evening's US press conference on a closed
circuit TV outside the press briefing room after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol by
the U.S. |
REAL AUDIO from the afternoon COP-4 Plenary session
The following statements were made during the afternoon session of the High Level
Segment
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez-Echandi, Ministro a.i. de Ambiente y
Energía, on behalf of the Central American States, high lighted the devastation visited
on the Central American region by hurricane Mitch
Kazakhstan announces readiness to enter Annex B
of the Kyoto Protocol and assume a commitment to abatement of GHGs.
José Israel
Vargas, Minister for Science and Technology, Brazil, on the CDMs promotion of
meaningful participation and cooperation between Annex I and non-Annex I countries
Simon Upton,
Minister for the Environment and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New
Zealand, welcomes Argentinas "courageous step" towards undertaking a
voluntary commitment
Dominique Voynet, Ministre de lAmenagement du Territoire et
de lEnvironnement, France, calls for an emphasis on domestic policies and measures
Liu Jiang,
Minster and Vice-Chairman of the State Development and Planning Commission, China,
contrasts the responsibilities of countries responsible for luxury versus survival
emissions and opposes attempts to impose commitments on developing countries
Jürgen Trittin, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature
Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany, performs his first duty as the new German
Minister Responsible for the Environment with a renunciation of nuclear power as part of
the solution to climate change and a call for action on aviation fuel
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez-Echandi, Ministro a.i. de Ambiente y Energía,
Costa Rica, spoke on behalf of the Central American countries and remembered those
affected by the Hurrican Mitch |
Serikbek Daukeev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Kazakhstan,
said his country would undertake voluntary commitments and would enter into Annex B of the
Kyoto Protocol through Annex 1 of the FCCC |
Captain Edward Singhatey, Secretary of State for Presidential Affairs,
Fisheries and Natural Resources, The Gambia |
Simon Upton, Minister for the Environment and Associate Minister of Foreign
Affairs and Trade, New Zealand, (far right) talking to his delegation after his
address to the Plenary |
John Biehl, Ministeria Secretario General de la Presidencia, Chile |
Jürgen Trittin, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation
and Nuclear Safety, Germany |
US delegation Press Briefing
The US, represented by Stuart E. Eizenstat (Under Secretary of State for Economic,
Business and Agricultural Affairs) and Todd Stern (Assistant to the President for Special
Projects) briefed the media on recent events and fielded questions.
Stuart E. Eizenstat discusses the US move to
sign the Protocol
Eizenstat and Stern answer questions from the
floor relating to Kazakhstan, technology transfer, EU policy, US domestic policy, and
voluntary commitments
UK Press Briefing
Deputy Minister John Prescott was upbeat about prospects for achieving some worthwhile
outcomes at COP4.
Right: CNN interviewing John Gummer, MP,
United Kingdom delegation
John Prescott discusses the conference, then
answers questions from the floor about the US signing of the Protocol and relations
between EU and G77/China
EU Commissioner and Council President Press Briefing
European Union Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard and President of the Council Martin
Bartenstein discussed recent events, including the US announcement that it would sign the
Protocol, and the state of negotiations at the conference.
RealAudio recordings from the briefing:
Martin Bartenstein outlines the EU's position
Bjerregaard and Bartenstein respond to
questions from the floor, covering issues such as talks between the US and the EU, and
also the general state of negotiations at COP4
AOSIS heads of government and ministers Press Briefing
Urgent action must be taken at this conference to address climate change, according to
representatives of the 35 member-strong Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).
Panelists spoke forcefully about the problems AOSIS countries are experiencing due to
climate change, and called for environmental issues to take precedence over political
considerations.
AOSIS was represented by:
- Rt. Hon. Bikenibeu Paeniu, Prime Minister, Tuvalu
- HE Leo A. Falcam, Vice President, Federated States of Micronesia
- Hon. Ludwig Keke, Deputy Speaker, Nauru
- Hon. Terry Coe, Minister in Charge of Climate Change, Niue
Left: Terry Coe, Minister in Charge of
Climate Change, NIUE, Leo A. Falcam, Vice President, Federated States of Micronesia,
Bikenibeu Paeniu, Prime Minister, Tuvalu, Ludwig Keke, Deputy Speaker, Nauru
Tuvalu's Prime Minister, Rt Hon Bikenibeu
Paeniu, discusses the urgency of the problems being faced by AOSIS member countries, and
airs concerns about progress so far at COP4.
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Negotiations Bulletin, 1998. All rights reserved.
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