Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Secondary Navigation
Africa
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
North America
Search
Search:
UN climate change chief hails Obama commitments
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU,Associated Press Writer AP - Thursday, November 20
ALGIERS, Algeria - The recent commitments on global warming by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama mark a new beginning for world negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the head of the U.N.'s climate change body said Wednesday.
Obama "indicated that he wants to show leadership both domestically and internationally," said Yvo de Boer, executive director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "I feel that that's a very important signal of encouragement for all of the countries in these negotiations," he told The Associated Press.
Obama on Tuesday issued a video message to a climate change conference held in California by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying he would establish annual targets to reduce U.S. carbon emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020, and aim to lower them another 80 percent by 2050.
This marks a striking break from the administration of George W. Bush, which did not curb U.S. emissions and declined to sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases.
China also refused to sign, meaning the world's two largest emitters are not included in the treaty, which expires in 2012.
U.N. negotiators have until December 2009 to complete the next global warming treaty. De Boer said Obama's commitment would significantly increase chances of a solid new agreement.
"The lesson of Kyoto is that we clearly need to find a way forward that the United States is willing to commit to," de Boer said in Algiers outside a conference of African environment ministers.
The U.N. climate official said he was "happy" about Obama's "willingness to lead, because that really is what the international community is waiting for."
Still, other countries, including Europe, have expressed support for more ambitious cuts than Obama's target to return to 1990 pollution levels. Most negotiators want to cut in half the amount of carbon dioxide discharged into the atmosphere from transportation, industry and power generation by mid-century.
De Boer said these goals could not be realistically met if shorter deadlines are not set before that, which is in part why he applauded the 2020 deadline Obama set for the United States.
Scientists gathered by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warn that world temperatures could increase by up to 6 degrees Celsius by 2100 unless nations reduce their emissions.
U.N. climate change officials say the rise could be limited to 2 degrees Celsius if all countries commit to serious emission cuts, but warn such warming already reaches threatening levels.
At the conference in Algiers, African ministers said they intended to play a larger role in the coming climate negotiations, which will build up to the Dec. 2009 treaty talks in Copenhagen.
The world's poorest continent, Africa contributes very little to global pollution, yet its people are by far those who risk most from climate change, U.N. officials say. Some 250 million Africans face the prospect of severe drought by 2020, U.N. experts say, in large part because of global warming.
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Recommend this article
Average (0 votes)
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
Related Articles: World
Russian scam artist sentenced in NYC to prisonAP - 30 minutes ago
France charges Rwanda aide amid Kigali protestsAFP - 37 minutes ago
Upstate NY dad drowns saving 2 sons after crashAP - 48 minutes ago
Drug suspect's wife charged with killing FBI agentAP - 51 minutes ago
Senate cancels vote on doomed auto bailoutAP - 50 minutes ago
Most Popular – World
Viewed
Obama girls visit their future White House home
US economy faces 'catastrophic collapse' without auto bailout: GM
Saudi super-tanker taken to Somali pirate lair
Exercise, sleep cuts cancer risk: study
Citigroup to slash 50,000 jobs, expenses worldwide
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular