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'Deal or raw deal? Bush refuses to commit to climate change target
Blair hails 'major' agreement on climate change - yet still Bush refuses to commit
By Andrew Grice, Political Editor in Heiligendamm
Published: 08 June 2007
Blair hails 'major' agreement on climate change - yet still Bush refuses to commit
By Andrew Grice, Political Editor in Heiligendamm
Published: 08 June 2007
Tony Blair was claiming a breakthrough in the battle against climate change yesterday after President George Bush agreed that the United States would "seriously consider" a global target to halve emissions of greenhouse gases.
Leaders of the world's richest nations, at their summit in Germany, called for a deal on "substantial cuts" in emissions by the end of 2009 to enable America, China and India to join a "son of Kyoto" agreement.
President Bush gave some ground under pressure from Mr Blair and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and summit host. But he watered down Germany's demand for a commitment to a 50 per cent cut in emissions by 2050 from 1990 levels. Instead the G8's declaration said the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases should "seriously consider" following the EU, Canada and Japan in seeking to halve emissions by 2050.
Mr Bush committed the US to a United Nations-led process but gave himself an important escape clause by making clear his support was conditional on China and India signing up to the worldwide deal. It is also unclear whether the target would be as ambitious as it looks as no baseline was set. Germany and Britain wanted the proposed 50 per cent cut based on 1990 levels but America argued for it to be from this year's - which would amount to a 45 per cent reduction from 1990.
Green groups welcomed the G8 leaders' decision as a step in the right direction but said President Bush's "leaving present" for Mr Blair before he stands down was not big enough. Mr Blair, who acted as a go-between for Ms Merkel when he held his final meeting as Prime Minister with President Bush yesterday, hailed the agreement as "a major, major step forward" that would have been regarded as "unimaginable" a year ago.
Asked if there was "wiggle room" in the declaration, he admitted: "There isn't going to be an agreement until there's an agreement that has America and China in it. However, there is now a process to lead to that agreement and at its heart is a commitment to a substantial cut." Mr Blair conceded there were still "a lot of things to work out", adding: "There is now an immense amount of detailed technical and political work to do." British officials admitted that yesterday's deal marked "the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end". But Blair aides saw President Bush's movement on climate change as a vindication of the Prime Minister's "shoulder-to-shoulder" approach on other issues including Iraq.
Ms Merkel won plaudits from other G8 leaders for brokering the deal. She described it as "an enormous step forward." The United Nations welcomed it as " a very positive outcome".
Environmental groups were more cautious. John Sauven, the director of Greenpeace UK, said: "George Bush's final gift to Blair falls short of what was needed... Bush says the US will 'seriously consider' substantial long-term cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, but that's like saying aid to Africa is a good thing then refusing to actually commit to donating a single dollar."'
Leaders of the world's richest nations, at their summit in Germany, called for a deal on "substantial cuts" in emissions by the end of 2009 to enable America, China and India to join a "son of Kyoto" agreement.
President Bush gave some ground under pressure from Mr Blair and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and summit host. But he watered down Germany's demand for a commitment to a 50 per cent cut in emissions by 2050 from 1990 levels. Instead the G8's declaration said the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases should "seriously consider" following the EU, Canada and Japan in seeking to halve emissions by 2050.
Mr Bush committed the US to a United Nations-led process but gave himself an important escape clause by making clear his support was conditional on China and India signing up to the worldwide deal. It is also unclear whether the target would be as ambitious as it looks as no baseline was set. Germany and Britain wanted the proposed 50 per cent cut based on 1990 levels but America argued for it to be from this year's - which would amount to a 45 per cent reduction from 1990.
Green groups welcomed the G8 leaders' decision as a step in the right direction but said President Bush's "leaving present" for Mr Blair before he stands down was not big enough. Mr Blair, who acted as a go-between for Ms Merkel when he held his final meeting as Prime Minister with President Bush yesterday, hailed the agreement as "a major, major step forward" that would have been regarded as "unimaginable" a year ago.
Asked if there was "wiggle room" in the declaration, he admitted: "There isn't going to be an agreement until there's an agreement that has America and China in it. However, there is now a process to lead to that agreement and at its heart is a commitment to a substantial cut." Mr Blair conceded there were still "a lot of things to work out", adding: "There is now an immense amount of detailed technical and political work to do." British officials admitted that yesterday's deal marked "the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end". But Blair aides saw President Bush's movement on climate change as a vindication of the Prime Minister's "shoulder-to-shoulder" approach on other issues including Iraq.
Ms Merkel won plaudits from other G8 leaders for brokering the deal. She described it as "an enormous step forward." The United Nations welcomed it as " a very positive outcome".
Environmental groups were more cautious. John Sauven, the director of Greenpeace UK, said: "George Bush's final gift to Blair falls short of what was needed... Bush says the US will 'seriously consider' substantial long-term cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, but that's like saying aid to Africa is a good thing then refusing to actually commit to donating a single dollar."'
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