Greenhouse emissions: Developed countries urged to act faster Major developed countries came under fire yesterday by developing countries participating in the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Bali, for not making enough efforts and commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The Convention was kicked off on December 3 by the UNFCC with high expectations that it would be instrumental to come out with what they described as the “”Bali Road Map” towards a comprehensive multilateral framework to combat climate change from an all encompassing global perspective. The G77 group of countries and China said that trying to address the climate change issue would be futile unless developed countries fulfil their commitments to reduce their emissions with deeper and effective cuts as the main polluters of the environment. They also said that an estimated US$ 200 billion would be needed by developing countries for emission reductions and in addition to that several hundreds of dollars would be needed by the developing countries for adaptation. The Africa group presented by Nigeria said that the developed countries were attempting through the Bali meetings to draw the developing countries into a negotiation towards a “comprehensive agreement”” in which the developing countries have to take on new commitments as a concession to the developed countries against what they are already mandated to make. The developed countries are to commit to a second period of emission reductions beginning from 2013 under the UN FCC and Kyoto Protocol. Climate change poses a serious threat on developing countries that in Asia fresh water availability is seemingly declining with most of its coastal areas are at the risk of being flooded. Pakistan said that the developing countries were historically not responsible for these situations and they have rights and priorities in meeting their present and future development needs. The G77 listed that lack of fulfilment of commitments during the Kyoto protocol ‘s first commitment period by Annex 1 (developed) countries in reducing emissions, lack of provision of finance and technology transfer to developing countries, Inadequacy of financial resources for adaptation and mitigation efforts and insufficient national institutional capacity in the developing countries to participate in carbon mechanisms as the most formidable challenges in addressing Climate Change. China expressed their disappointment about the progress made by the developed countries in the area of transferring technologies to developing countries. UNFCC executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said that they wanted a break through in Bali through the formal adoption of a negotiating agenda. A powerful coalition of developed countries, which is chaired by Australia and is considered a key swing player at the negotiations, is split on the crucial but contentious issue of mandatory national targets for developed countries in any post-Kyoto climate agreement after 2012. Meanwhile, on behalf of the Umbrella Group made up of developed countries, But the European Union is adamant that any new deal must contain binding commitments for all signatories to the proposed agreement. The EU has dangled the prospect of even steeper emissions cuts across Europe to fight global warming - but only if the rest of the world follows suit. The bloc urged rich nations to rally together to slash greenhouse gas output by 30 per cent by 2020.
Inside the conference centre 
At the U.N. conference on Global Climate change in Bali, the early talk has focused on whether some of the major developed countries will commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years. European states are pushing for steep reductions in emissions, but environmentalists accuse some others of dragging their feet. 

The European Union's climate chief, Artur Runge Metzger, says his organization wants greenhouse emissions cut by half by the middle of the century.

"We would like to see global average temperatures rise no more than an average of two degrees compared to pre-industrial levels," Metzger said. "And that would require that global emissions go down by at least 50 percent of the 1990 emissions by the year 2050."

Greenhouse emissions are thought to be causing global warming. Metzger downplayed differences between the EU and other countries on reduction targets, saying he believes the response to the 50 percent proposal has been increasingly positive. He noted that Japan, Canada and some members of the U.S. congress have expressed support for the idea.

Those same countries, however, have been targeted by environmental groups, who say they have failed in their initial statements here to come out strongly enough for significant cuts. Hans Verolme of the group WWF says Japan is being criticized for not including binding targets in its proposal for emission control discussions.

"That in our view would be quite disastrous. It would delay action and it would in fact lead to dangerous climate change," Verolme said.
The Conference entrance 
Japan says its proposal is merely an attempt to get the conversation started, and U.N. climate change chief Yvo de Boer has also sought to downplay any differences. De Boer repeatedly points out that the Bali conference is not meant to produce a new climate-change treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. That 1997 agreement is set to expire in 2012.

"This meeting in Bali will not finalize a post-2012 climate change deal, that's much too complicated to do in 10 days, but what it can do is put in place a two-year process to work towards such a deal," De Boer said.

Even the two-degree temperature rise that the European Union talks about is predicted to have serious effects on humans and the environment. The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted such a rise would increase the frequency of damaging storms, and make 30 percent of the world's species more vulnerable to extinction.

Thousands of delegates from more than 180 countries are meeting in Bali, which is due to run through December 14.