US stance on emissions may change, says PM Lee

America's next president may not oppose binding agreement on cuts
Peh Shing Huei, Straits Times 14 Dec 07;

IN NUSA DUA (BALI) - AMID talk that the negotiations here are in jeopardy over Washington's opposition to specific target cuts, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday that the American position may not be the 'last word'.

The stance by the United States against binding agreements for greenhouse gas emissions is a key stumbling block to the progress of climate change talks taking place here.

But with US presidential elections scheduled for November next year, Mr Lee said a new leader could move away from the Bush administration's position.

As delegates here try to hammer out a Bali road map to start negotiations for a new international climate change agreement to replace the existing Kyoto Protocol from 2013, countries led by the US are against the mention of specific targets to cut emissions.

The European Union (EU), supported by most developing nations, is pushing for specific targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr Lee, speaking to the Singapore media yesterday after attending a leaders' retreat, believed that the US leader who succeeds President George W. Bush might do things differently.

'Americans are going to have presidential elections next November and whoever comes in after that would have to review their position because, as climate change becomes more obvious and more severe, public attitudes will change and governments, particularly in the West, will have to respond to these shifting public attitudes,' he said.

He pointed to changes already made at the state level in the US, where the likes of California and Massachusetts have imposed caps on emissions.

But such a 'hotchpotch of different restrictions' across the US is bothering manufacturers and multinational corporations, he said, and they are already pushing for a standard nationwide limit so they can operate more efficiently.

'So I think whoever comes in after 2008 will have to re-assess their position. This is a dynamic situation. So I don't see the US position as being the last word,' he said.

Australia was in a similar position, but after Mr Kevin Rudd came to power, his administration ratified the Kyoto pact, something his predecessor John Howard steadfastly refused to do.

Still, Mr Lee acknowledged that the road ahead to reach an agreement on climate change is very difficult.

But an important step was being taken by holding the United Nations conference in Bali, he said as he applauded Indonesia for having 'done the world a favour' by hosting it.

'This is a very difficult long-term problem, and it cannot be solved without every country participating, particularly the major economies - America, China, India, the EU,' he said.

'So it's going to be a long process to work out some agreement. The target is 2009. I think it'll be very challenging.'

Mr Lee also said, in response to a question, that Singapore did not have alternative sources of energy and thus had to be dependent on fossil fuel.

'So therefore, our view is that if Singapore is going to take on any commitments and there are going to be caps, this has to be taken into account - that we are not quite as favourably disposed as a country as other more resource-rich and energy-rich nations,' he said.