Bali Emissions Goal May Be `Too Ambitious,' Ban Says

By Alex Morales and Kim Chipman

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said setting specific targets for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions blamed for global warming may be ``too ambitious'' for delegates meeting this week in Indonesia.

Ministers from more than 130 nations began meeting today on the resort island of Bali to set an agenda for talks to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Delegates must agree to a timeline for a new treaty on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by 2009, or they will have failed the world's people, Ban said.

Ban urged industrialized countries, including the U.S., to lead the charge to create a new, tougher global climate accord. The U.S., the world's biggest emitter and the only developed nation not to ratify the Kyoto treaty, is the main opponent to specific cuts, saying developing nations need to commit to emission limits, too.

``Today we are at a crossroads,'' Ban said at a press conference. ``One path is leading toward a comprehensive, new climate agreement, and another toward a betrayal of our planet and our children.''

The Kyoto Protocol binds 36 nations to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by a combined 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2012. U.S. President George W. Bush has refused to ratify the Kyoto accord and the treaty doesn't require mandatory reductions for developing countries such as China.

Bali `Breakthrough'

Ban has called for a ``breakthrough'' in Bali, where informal talks begun last week have been mired in disagreement. The U.S. is at odds with the European Union and the UN over whether the negotiating guidelines for the next two years should specify targets for greenhouse-gas reductions. An early UN draft called for industrialized countries to cut emissions by as much as 40 percent by 2020. The U.S. opposes that goal.

``The reality is in this business, once numbers appear in text it predetermines outcomes and will drive negotiations in one direction,'' said Harlan Watson, a senior U.S. climate negotiator. The Bush administration wants a ``neutral'' agreement out of the Bali meeting, which is intended to set the agenda and timetable for negotiating a new climate accord.

Ban, the first UN chief to make a personal appearance at climate change treaty negotiations, said he met with the U.S. delegation in Bali yesterday.

``I urged the U.S. government to exercise flexibility as the largest economic power of the world,'' Ban said. There's a ``high level of expectation'' among the international community that the U.S. and all industrialized countries will take a leadership role and agree to more stringent measures to curb climate change.

U.S. Needed

The U.S. must be part of any new treaty, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.

``The worst thing that can happen here is to end our conference with no consensus, with no breakthrough and it's all business as usual,'' Yudhoyono told delegates at the conference.

While industrialized countries should take the lead in negotiations, developing countries should also ``limit'' the growth in their emissions, Ban said.

China and the U.S., the world's largest greenhouse gas polluters, each say they want the other to take on binding commitments to limit emissions in order to participate in a new accord. China's officials say the country needs to expand its economy, while the Bush administration says it is concerned that emissions caps will harm economic competitiveness.

Group of 77

The group of 77 developing nations, including China and India, said talks to protect the climate from greenhouse gas pollution had not progressed fast enough.

The Bali conference so far has ``yet to demonstrate our care for the survival of humanity,'' said Halima Tayo Alao, minister for environment in Nigeria.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today met the UN's Ban to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, reversing the stance of former Prime Minister John Howard, who argued that ratifying the accord would cut economic growth and cost jobs.

``We expect all developed countries to embrace a further set of binding emissions targets and we need this meeting at Bali to map out a process and timeline for this to happen,'' Rudd said. ``We need developing countries to play their part, with specific commitments for action.''

Canada Environment Minister John Baird backed a new United Nations treaty to fight global warming, putting his country at odds with three major emitters that reject binding cuts in the gases.

``Canada is prepared to accept mandatory, binding targets and work with the UN and participating countries to come up with a process which will lead to worldwide greenhouse-gas reductions,'' Baird said. ``If we are going to achieve real reductions in greenhouse gases, I am in full agreement with the United Nations that we need these three principles as our starting point.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, at amorales2@bloomberg.net ; Kim Chipman in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, at kchipman@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: December 12, 2007 04:27 EST

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