OneWorld.net (U.S.)

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 28 (OneWorld) - Environmental groups and human rights activists are up in arms about the Bush administration's move to pursue a separate strategy instead of contributing to the UN-led global efforts to fight climate change.

"What is the goal of this meeting? To persuade the other countries to undermine UN negotiations?" asked a spokesperson for Greenpeace International as the industrial nations' meeting on climate change commenced in Washington Thursday.

The two-day summit, dubbed the "Meeting of Major Economies on Energy Security and Climate Change," is being attended by the leaders of the 16 most greenhouse-gas-emitting notions and some representatives of developing countries at the invitation of U.S. President George W. Bush.

Critics described the summit as an attempt by the major polluters of the world to use voluntary pledges on carbon emissions as an excuse to avoid further commitments on legally binding international agreements on climate change.

Among such critics include more than 50 Greenpeace activists arrested Thursday after staging a protest outside the U.S. State Department building. They were rallying against the United States' rejection of international decisions on how to cope with the threat of global warming.

In their view, the Bush administration's decision to invite presidents and prime ministers of the industrialized world amounted to nothing but an effort to derail the UN-led process to combat climate change, which was discussed at an international meeting in New York early this week.

Greenpeace is not alone in reacting angrily to the Bush administration's position on climate change. There are scores of other international organizations expressing their resentment and frustration at the White House for the conduct of its environmental policies.

"At a time when the focus of governments should be on working together to counter the dangers of climate change, Bush has chose unilateralism over cooperation," said Vivian Stromberg, director of MADRE, an international network of women's groups.

Last Monday, when the UN held its one-day meeting of world leaders to discuss the issue of climate change, Bush chose not to participate. To many observers, his absence was an obvious sign of Washington's continued insistence on an isolationist approach to international affairs.

That understanding was vividly reflected in UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's speech at the UN conference Monday. In criticizing industrial nations for their inaction on emission cuts, he did not specifically mention the United States, but in a veiled reference, he did express his disapproval of U.S. officials' reluctance to join the global quest to fight climate change.

"Given the nature and magnitude of the challenge, national action is insufficient," Ban said. "No nation can address this challenge alone. No region can insulate itself from climate change."

Noting that 15 years have passed since the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was finalized in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ban described the greenhouse-gas emission levels in industrialized countries as "highly unacceptable," particularly because they are still rising.

Ban also took the industrial countries to task for not doing enough in helping developing countries obtain the technological know-how to effectively use clean energy resources, a point that has been raised by a number of developing countries at numerous international forums.

The one-day conference at the UN was aimed at building momentum for the next round of international talks on the future of the Kyoto Protocol, due to be held in Bali, Indonesia in December. The treaty, which, within the industrialized world, has not been accepted by the United States and Australia, will expire in 2012.

The Kyoto Protocol requires member countries to reduce their carbon emissions by 2012 to an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels.

In recent weeks, European countries have appeared ready to take drastic steps on emission cuts and seemed enthusiastic in advancing the UN agenda on climate change at the Bali Conference.

"We already have taken action, but we have to do more," said Jose Manuel Barrosso, president of the European Commission, at the UN meeting, regarding measures to mitigate the rise of global temperatures.

At the high-level meeting, Barrosso also said that Europe was willing to reduce its share of carbon emissions to at least 20 percent of 1990 levels by the year 2020, adding that the region might go further than that "if there is a fair and effective global agreement for the post-2012 period."

Observers say at the Washington meeting, the Bush administration is likely to push the industrial countries to opt for voluntary measures on emission cuts instead of embracing internationally binding agreements.

The meeting might produce different results, however, if the European delegates try hard to persuade Washington to keep the global perspective in view, though it is unlikely they would succeed in convincing the Bush administration to reverse course and join the UN efforts.

Whether the Europeans succeed or not, the activist communities hold a firm position that the United States must change its stance on climate change; they seem determined to build further pressure on the White House and Capitol Hill to change the national policy on climate change.

"This is the time for action, a time for the Bush administration and the U.S. Congress to require U.S. industries to curb emissions," said MADRE's Stromberg.

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