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Kyoto Deal Leaves U.S. Isolated
Negotiators from nearly 200 countries have reached agreement on the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, but President Bush remains opposed to the pact.
Negotiators from around the world cleared the way July 23 for the first treaty to combat global warming, challenging the United States to join the worldwide effort to curb polluting gases.
Though the U.S. withdrawal in March punched a big hole in the treaty, the Europeans were determined to finally launch a climate change pact in the works for seven years, and they said Washington would be welcome to join.
"It's a first step," EU chief negotiator Olivier Deleuze said. "To bring the United States on board, we first needed a boat. Now we have a boat."
Bush has promised his own proposals, but his delegation showed up in Bonn empty-handed.
At issue in the talks were rules to govern the Kyoto pact, which pledges industrialized nations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, chiefly carbon dioxide from cars, power plants and factories.
During two sleepless nights of bargaining and phone calls between the Bonn delegates and their capitals, Japan emerged as the key holdout because of misgivings about the enforcement provisions.
Conference chairman Jan Pronk and key delegates holed up through the night and into July 23 morning, bargaining over a draft accord he crafted to avoid a failure like at the last conference in November.
The breakthrough came at about 10 a.m. when Japanese Environment Minister Yuriko Kawaguchi looked at the latest compromise proposal "and said, basically, 'We can accept everything here,"' conference spokesman Michael Williams said.
Two hours later, Pronk signaled adoption of the draft with the rap of a gavel before the full conference. He was greeted by a standing ovation.
The final deal included core agreements on enforcement, emission credits for forests that soak up carbon, aid to promote clean energy in poorer nations, and emissions trading ¡ª buying and selling the right to pollute.
Illustrating U.S. isolation at the talks, chief delegate Paula Dobriansky drew boos from the gallery July 23 when she insited Washington is committed to tackling climate change.
The EU offered a major concession by softening limits on how countries can offset obligations to cut pollution by counting the proper management of forests and farmlands, which absorb carbon dioxide.
To help developing nations trying to clean up emissions so they can one day join the treaty, the EU announced a $410 million fund.
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