EU and US Talk Green
October 24, 2006
The environmental policies of the European Union and United States have never been rich ground for trans-Atlantic agreement, especially when it comes to the Kyoto Protocol, but two days of talks between the two regions, which conclude Wednesday, are scheduled to include climate change, clean energy and sustainable development.
This meeting follows a summit held in Austria in June, when both sides pledged to work "more closely to address the serious and long-term challenge of climate change, biodiversity loss and air pollution."
Finland's Environment Minister Jan-Erik Enestam, said the talks would be the first time the bloc met the US to discuss climate change, clean energy and sustainable development "on a political level."
Before the meeting, Enestam, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, told Reuters that the two sides needed to "concentrate on other issues and new tracks," now that the Kyoto agreement was "dead in the United States."
Past disputes over signing Kyoto
The EU has been a staunch supporter of the Kyoto Protocol, which came into force in 2005. The decision of the US not to sign the agreement has stifled trans-Atlantic environmental cooperation.
The protocol sets caps on greenhouse gas emissions that will potentially help reduce the effects of climate change and requires signatories to cut emissions of six greenhouse gases to 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
US President George W. Bush said that meeting Kyoto's targets, which would largely mean reducing coal and oil emissions, would cost US jobs and negatively affect the economy. He also argued against leaving out developing nations of the protocol until 2012.
As the world's largest contributor of greenhouse gasses, the US absence among the protocol's signatories is a blow the effort to curb climate change.
Instead of agreeing to the Kyoto targets, Bush said he favors voluntary goals for cutting the amount of carbon emitted by the US economy and big investments in new technologies, such as hydrogen and cleaner burning coal.
Same goals, different methods
Paula Dobriansky, who lead the US delegation, told Reuters the talks show that both regions "share common objectives."
Though a breakthrough environmental agreement is not expected in Helsinki, Dobriansky added that she will continue discussing "policies for reducing greenhouse gases, carbon capture and storage."