Word: protocols
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...countries need to act first on global warming), the G-8 refused to set short-term emissions-cut targets. The G-8 didn't even specify which base year it would use as the starting point for cutting emissions in half - either 1990, the year used for the Kyoto Protocol, or the present day. "There's no way to judge the target against any real number," says Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "This is not something that makes you stay up at night." The only strong signal the G-8 declaration sends...
...were in favor of the proposal and have long been pushing for stricter medium-term targets, the U.S. - along with Canada, Australia and host nation Japan - torpedoed the plan in favor of the more vague long-term goal. (Canada and Japan are original signatories to the Kyoto Protocol - unlike the U.S. and Australia - but both have drifted away from the European nations on climate change in recent years.) That's a disappointment, not just because of the missed opportunity to engage developing nations. Without the signpost of a medium-term target, a vague promise to cut emissions more than four...
...more progress. If nothing else, this G-8 summit - Bush's last in office - made it clear that we can't expect any change from the U.S. until a new President is in office. Both John McCain and Barack Obama back stronger action, but a successor to the Kyoto Protocol needs to be negotiated by the end of 2009. That will leave the new Administration less than a year to prepare - not much time as far as complex international treaties go. The U.S. will be ready to play - but by then, the game might be almost over...
...same time beckoning opportunity. At next week's G-8 summit, to be held in Japan, the leaders of the world's most advanced economies hope to make headway on one of the biggest opportunities: an agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions that would succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires...
...never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, but last year President Bush embraced the idea of a long-term reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions. G-8 representatives are trying to craft an agreement to cut emissions 50% from 1990 levels by 2050. The U.S. may push for even deeper cuts in the future. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has called for a 60% reduction over the same period; the Democratic contender, Barack Obama, would like to see an 80% cut. Bush and the GOP, reflecting U.S. auto-industry concern about changing public opinion on global warming, accepted tighter auto-emission standards this...