The two-week U.N. climate change conference kicked off today in Bali, Indonesia with negotiators from more than 180 nations present.
Conference leaders encouraged delegates to move quickly in laying the groundwork for a global treaty to pick up where the Kyoto Protocol leaves off in 2012.
“The eyes of the world are upon you. There is a huge responsibility for Bali to deliver,” said Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the conference. “The world now expects a quantum leap forward.”
One of the highlights from Monday’s activities was the announcement (and ensuing applause) that Australia’s new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd had signed papers to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, thus leaving the United States as the sole industrialized nation not participating in the agreement aimed at combating global warming by reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases.
Pressure is on the American delegation, and the entire conference, to agree to a framework that the U.S. is willing to support. So far the Bush administration has been unwilling to consider mandatory levels for emissions cuts, insisting instead on voluntary reductions.
Another contentious issues will be whether growing economies like China and India will have to reducing their skyrocketing emissions.
Last week China and India both stated strong opposition to accepting mandatory reduction targets. Both countries believe increased energy use is key to raising their citizens out of poverty.
China insists developed nations must do more to assist poorer nations in reducing emissions. China has set ambitious domestic targets for increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy use, but says more must be done to transfer clean power-generation technology to developing nations.
Chinese officials say intellectual property rights on clean technologies makes pursuing clean energy prohibitively expensive for poor nations.
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