Apec declaration: Why emissions cuts are not included

Straits Times 16 Nov 09;

A LINE that reportedly called for carbon emissions to be substantially cut over the next 40 years was noticeably absent from the final statement released by the 21 Apec leaders yesterday.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, asked twice by journalists at last night's press conference, said it had not been dropped, but also that he did not have the details leading up to the final statement.

Earlier reports cited the draft version of the statement as pushing for a commitment to slash emissions by 50 per cent from their 1990 levels by 2050.

In the final version, while calling it 'one of the biggest global challenges', the leaders settled on working 'towards an ambitious outcome in Copenhagen' in a joint statement released on the last day of the Apec meetings. They were referring to the United Nations-sponsored conference on climate change in Denmark next month.

When asked by a reporter whether it was true that the line calling for emissions cuts had been dropped and whether it had been due to pressure from China, Mr Lee said: 'I don't have a blow- by-blow history of how we came to the final resolution but the final resolution is what it says.

'We are leading up to Copenhagen and I am sure the countries would be reserving some of their cards and particularly the bottom cards to be shown at the right moment. So I don't think they have shown their final position yet.'

When a second reporter asked why the emissions target was dropped, Mr Lee said that it was not.

'We didn't drop the emissions. We negotiated a draft, we settled on a text. I do not know the ins and the outs, but this is not an occasion for negotiating climate change, this is Apec, and it is a declaration of intent in good faith and the negotiations and the formal commitments will be done in the UN process which is leading to Copenhagen.'

ROBIN CHAN

Surprise guest raises hot issue
Danish PM moots two-stage process to salvage deal on climate talks next month
Robin Chan, Straits Times 16 Nov 09;

APEC leaders meeting over breakfast yesterday received a surprise guest who addressed them on an issue generating a lot of heat among world economies - hot air.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen flew into Singapore unannounced to try and salvage a deal on stalled climate change talks, which are to be held in his country in three weeks' time.

Mr Rasmussen, who will chair the United Nations-sponsored climate conference in Copenhagen, proposed a two-stage process for a deal to 19 of the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders.

Under this, a full and politically binding - although not legally binding - agreement could be reached in Copenhagen.

This would set the stage for the second step: a legally binding agreement, possibly at the next climate change summit in Mexico City in December next year.

The Copenhagen conference is critical as it is supposed to map out a framework to deal with climate change beyond 2012, replacing the Kyoto Protocol.

The deal seeks, among other things, to limit global warming through substantial carbon emission cuts.

Mr Rasmussen was making a calculated move in flying here, as Apec economies include the United States and China, the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, and the Apec meeting is the last large gathering of world economies before Copenhagen.

Pitching his watered-down deal, Mr Rasmussen said: 'Given the time factor and the situation of individual countries, we must...focus on what is possible and not let ourselves be distracted by what is not possible.'

He added: 'We cannot do half a deal in Copenhagen and postpone the rest till later...We need the commitments. We need the figures. We need the action.

'Even if we may not hammer out the last dots of a legally binding instrument, I do believe a political binding agreement with specific commitment to mitigation and finance provides a strong basis for immediate action in the years to come.'

Climate change talks have stalled amid disputes between developed and developing economies. The developed nations want all countries to agree to binding limits on greenhouse gases.

But developing countries want greater flexibility and more aid from the wealthiest nations to achieve reductions in emissions.

Comments from Apec leaders after Mr Rasmussen's meeting suggest that governments could settle on this proposal.

Mr Michael Froman, US President Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, said: 'There was an assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full internationally legally binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts.

'There was widespread support that it was important that Copenhagen be a success, that there be the achievement of real concrete progress with operational impact.'

Chinese President Hu Jintao was quoted by Reuters as saying: 'Developed countries should proceed with taking on deep cuts; developing countries should cut greenhouse gases and fight climate change, in line with their individual circumstances and with the aid of funds and technology transfer from developed countries.'

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters: 'It is going to be tough...but I believe everyone is seeking to put their best foot forward, and that was reflected in what transpired around a small table of world leaders this morning.'

chanckr@sph.com.sg

FOCUS ON WHAT'S POSSIBLE

'Given the time factor and the situation of individual countries, we must...focus on what is possible and not let ourselves be distracted by what is not possible. We cannot do half a deal in Copenhagen and postpone the rest till later...We need the commitments. We need the figures. We need the action.'

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen


WHAT COUNTRIES CAN DO

'Developed countries should proceed with taking on deep cuts; developing countries should cut greenhouse gases and fight climate change, in line with their individual circumstances and with the aid of funds and technology transfer from developed countries.'

Chinese President Hu Jintao


TARGETING REAL PROGRESS AT COPENHAGEN TALKS

'There was an assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full internationally legally binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts. There was widespread support that it was important that Copenhagen be a success, that there be the achievement of real concrete progress with operational impact.'

Mr Michael Froman, US President Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs

Leading up to Copenhagen
Ansley Ng, Today Online 16 Nov 09;

A target to cut greenhouse gases by half was omitted from an Apec leaders' declaration, but will be brought up next month at world climate change talks in Copenhagen.

Speaking to a media conference, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the goal was not dropped, but a draft was negotiated and the text agreed upon by leaders.

"I think we're leading up to Copenhagen. and I'm sure countries will be reserving some of their cards, particularly their bottom cards, to be shown at the right moment," said Mr Lee.

A previous draft had pledged a 50-per-cent reduction of greenhouse gases from 1990 levels by 2050, but the final communique committed only to working toward "an ambitious outcome" at the Copenhagen talks.

Some leaders such as Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had reportedly tried to push for a more firmer commitment yesterday morning.

Even Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen made a surprise visit to Singapore to revive momentum for a deal to be agreed at the upcoming talks in his country.

When asked in the evening about the Apec climate target, Mr Lee said: "This is not the occasion for negotiating climate change. This is Apec and is a declaration of intent in good faith, and negotiations and formal commitments will be done in the United Nation process." ANSLEY NG

APEC urges new growth model, climate pact progress
Elaine Kurtenbach, Associated Press Google News 16 Nov 09;

SINGAPORE — Open trade and people-centered strategies are key for sustained, stable growth, President Barack Obama and Asia-Pacific leaders said Sunday, pledging to persist with stimulus spending until a global recovery is assured.

The leaders wrapped up the annual meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum with a joint pledge to resist protectionism. They also endorsed policies to encourage more environmentally friendly growth that is "balanced, inclusive and sustainable, to ensure a durable recovery that will create jobs and benefit our people."

Growth led mainly by American consumption and borrowing and Chinese exports is not sustainable in the long term, Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister, told reporters. Neither is relying on debt-backed stimulus spending to spur demand.

"We know that the old formulas are not going to work as well in the future because it's a different world," he said. "You have to find another balance."

But despite calls for faster progress in world trade talks and efforts to craft a worldwide global warming treaty, the leaders offered no specific, new initiatives for either one — typical of the forum's nonbinding nature.

The World Wildlife Fund's Global Climate Initiative expressed disappointment that an earlier push for a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 was omitted from the leaders' final statement.

"Leaders have to take the bull by the horns, and finally tackle the difficult questions, instead of constantly avoiding them," spokeswoman Diane McFadzien said in a statement.

The leaders, who met over breakfast to discuss global warming, committed only to working toward "an ambitious outcome" at climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, next month.

But Lee said he believed some countries were holding their cards for later. "This is not an occasion for negotiating climate change," he said.

The annual meeting of APEC, which was founded 20 years ago to promote closer economic ties in the diverse, wide-flung region, focused mainly on ways to ensure the recovery from the worst economic crisis since the 1930s takes hold and endures.

The overriding concern is to end imbalances in trade, investment and growth that are viewed as the underlying causes of the global financial meltdown.

"The intrinsic problems of the world economic system are yet to be solved at the source, and the effort to fully restore world economic growth is beset by uncertainties and destabilizing factors," Chinese President Hu Jintao said in a speech to fellow leaders Sunday.

"We should use the financial crisis as an opportunity to take a serious look at its root causes," said Hu, whose country expects growth of at least 8 percent this year and was widely credited by other APEC leaders with spearheading the global recovery.

Leaders pledged to pursue reforms that will "gradually unwind global imbalances," and also to put in place regulatory policies that will prevent credit and asset markets from becoming "forces of destabilization."

As it assessed progress on dismantling regional barriers to trade and investment, the group won backing for its long-term goal of creating a free-trade area covering all 21 APEC economies.

Underscoring the American commitment to a region increasingly dominated by China, now the world's third-largest economy and a growing political and military player, Obama announced Washington's interest in joining the Trans-Pacific free-trade partnership.

For now, the gesture is largely symbolic: the grouping now includes only four countries, and Obama's administration has put off work on free-trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama while it deals with domestic economic troubles and the war in Afghanistan, among other issues.

Washington is embroiled in disputes with China over trade in tires, steel and autos, among other products, and is pushing Beijing to loosen controls that it says keep the Chinese currency, the yuan, undervalued.

The yuan's weakness is unwelcome for many countries in the region that compete with Chinese export manufacturers. But the APEC leaders did not mention currency rates in their final statement, despite an earlier call by finance ministers for maintaining "market-oriented exchange rates."

Later Sunday, Obama headed to China, with a first stop in Shanghai, the mainland's commercial and financial capital.

Earlier, he joined a summit with all 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including military-ruled Myanmar. In the unusual face-to-face encounter, Obama told Myanmar's Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

A joint statement issued after the summit — the first ever between a U.S. president and ASEAN — devoted an entire paragraph to Myanmar, a major irritant in relations between the two sides.

It urged Myanmar to ensure that 2010 elections are "free, fair, inclusive and transparent," but did not call for the release of political prisoners.

Obama also announced that after next year's APEC forum in Yokohama, Japan, he will host the 2011 gathering in his native Hawaii.

"I look forward to seeing you all decked out in flowered shirts and grass skirts," he told the leaders Sunday.

Associated Press writers Mark S. Smith, Vijay Joshi, Jim Gomez and Alex Kennedy contributed to this report.

World leaders back delay to final climate deal
Caren Bohan Reuters 15 Nov 09;

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders on Sunday supported delaying a legally binding climate pact until 2010 or even later, but European negotiators said the move did not imply weaker action.

Some argued that legal technicalities might otherwise distract the talks in Copenhagen and it was better to focus on the core issue of cutting climate-warming emissions.

"Given the time factor and the situation of individual countries we must, in the coming weeks, focus on what is possible and not let ourselves be distracted by what is not possible," Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told the leaders.

"The Copenhagen Agreement should finally mandate continued legal negotiations and set a deadline for their conclusion," said the Copenhagen talks host, who flew into Singapore to lay out his proposal over breakfast at an Asia-Pacific summit.

Rasmussen said the December 7-18 talks should still agree key elements such as cuts in greenhouse gases for industrialized nations and funds to help developing nations. Copenhagen would also set a deadline for writing them into a legal text.

"We are not aiming to let anyone off the hook," Rasmussen said after the meeting, which was attended by leaders of the United States, China, Japan, Russia, Mexico, Australia and Indonesia.

WAITING FOR UNITED STATES

French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said it was clear the main obstacle was the United States' slow progress in defining its own potential emissions cuts.

"The problem is the United States, there's no doubt about that," Borloo, who has coordinated France's Copenhagen negotiating effort, told Reuters in an interview.

"It's the world's number one power, the biggest emitter (of greenhouse gases), the biggest per capita emitter and it's saying 'I'd like to but I can't'. That's the issue," he said.

Danish and Swedish officials said they wanted all developed countries including the United States to promise numbers for cuts in emissions in Copenhagen. The U.S. Senate has not yet agreed carbon-capping legislation.

"There was an assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full, internationally legally binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts in 22 days," said U.S. negotiator Michael Froman.

"We believe it is better to have something good than to have nothing at all," said Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez. The next major U.N. climate meeting is in Bonn in mid-2010.

"Copenhagen can and must deliver clarity on emission reductions and the finance to kickstart action. I have seen nothing to change my view on that," said Yvo de Boer, the U.N.'s top climate change official. Ministers from 40 nations will meet in Copenhagen on Monday and Tuesday for preparatory talks.

Copenhagen was seen as the last chance for countries to agree on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, aiming to fight a rise in temperatures that many scientists predict will bring rising sea levels and more floods and droughts.

The aim of the summit is to set ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gases in industrialized nations, but also to raise funds to help poor countries slow their own emissions growth and tackle the worst impacts on crops and water supplies.

But negotiations have been bogged down, with developing nations accusing the rich world of failing to set themselves deep enough 2020 goals for curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

FINANCING FIRST

It was not clear if China, now the world's biggest carbon emitter, had backed the two-stage proposal in Singapore.

Chinese President Hu Jintao instead focused his remarks at the breakfast meeting on the need to establish a funding mechanism for rich nations to provide financial support to developing countries to fight climate change.

Britain's Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC the issue was tough but he was "quite optimistic".

"It is about saving the world ... If we can get a very clear set of commitments from the world's leaders in Copenhagen on how they're going to cut their emissions -- not just Europe, not just the United States but India and China and other countries -- then that will be a very major step forward," he said.

Despite the talk in Singapore of urgent action on climate change, a statement issued after the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit dropped an earlier draft's reference to halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Environmental lobby group WWF was disappointed.

"At APEC, there was far too much talk about delay," spokesperson Diane McFadzien said in a statement.

"In Copenhagen, governments need to create a legally binding framework with an amended Kyoto Protocol and a new Copenhagen Protocol. Legally binding is the only thing that will do if we want to see real action to save the planet."

(Additional reporting by David Fogarty, Oleg Shchedrov, Yoo Choonsik and Lucy Hornby, Stefano Ambrogi in London, Emmanuel Jarry and James Mckenzie in Paris, Alister Doyle in Oslo and Pete Harrison in Brussels; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Jon Hemming)

APEC nations back face-saving climate plan
David Fogarty, Reuters 15 Nov 09;

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama backed on Sunday a compromise proposal to ensure U.N. climate talks next month in Copenhagen don't end in failure.

The decision comes as 19 Asia-Pacific leaders meeting in Singapore said on Sunday it was unlikely a tougher, and legally binding, U.N. climate deal would be agreed at the Dec 7-18 Danish talks.

Bickering over emissions reduction targets, climate financing for poorer nations and how to measure, report and prove emissions reduction steps have bogged down U.N. climate talks for months.

The U.N. has set a December deadline to agree a broader climate pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2013, with that goal now pushed into 2010 at least.

The Danish proposal tries to deal with the reality of too many unresolved issues and the need to deliver a politically binding agreement that would capture progress already achieved in the U.N. negotiations, and at the same time provide for immediate action already from next year.

Support for Danish Prime Minister's Lars Lokke Rasmussen's "one agreement -- two purposes" proposal gives the troubled U.N. climate negotiations breathing space by aiming for a politically binding agreement in Copenhagen. Legally binding details would be worked out later.

In particular, it will give Obama's administration more time to try to get a sweeping climate bill through the Senate. Analysts say it needs to pass the Senate in the first few months of 2010 to avoid becoming pushed aside in the run-up to mid-term elections.

But it will not ease the pressure on the United States, the world's number two greenhouse gas emitter, to offer a much tougher mid-term emissions reduction target.

The current Senate draft climate bill outlines a reduction of 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, but this is far below the cuts the U.N. climate panel says are need from rich countries to avert dangerous climate change.

Many developing countries say rich nations' collective cuts are far below the 25-40 percent reductions from 1990 levels by 2020, the U.N. climate panel says.

The U.N. talks process has run out of time, with too much to be agreed to seal a broad, legally binding agreement in little more than a month.

Hence Denmark's "Plan B," which aims to capitalize on the stated desire of world leaders for Copenhagen to deliver a successful outcome.

Denmark also hopes the agreement would mandate continued legal negotiations and set a deadline for their conclusion.

But analysts point to the risk of that deadline slipping if the U.S. political will to agree on emissions targets and carbon cap-and-trade fails, particularly if the U.S. economy falters.

It also risks growing frustration from developing countries which accuse rich nations of not doing enough to fight climate or help poorer states adapt to its impacts.

Developing nations, including big emitters Indonesia and Brazil, have recently laid out tough, voluntary targets to curb emissions by 2020.

South Korea has opted for a tough voluntary 2020 target as well, underscoring the point that developing nations are already moving to curb their emissions, with some of targets they have announced being more ambitious than those of many rich nations.

All this adds pressure on Denmark to ensure the face-saving proposal yields an agreement in Copenhagen that doesn't erode nations' desire to reach a tougher pact as soon as possible.

It will also need to spell out more clearly how the fight against climate change fairly splits the burden and the financial bill between all nations.

(Editing by John Chalmers)

APEC leaders work for 'ambitious outcome' at Copenhagen
Yahoo News 15 Nov 09;

SINGAPORE (AFP) – Asia-Pacific leaders Sunday vowed to work for an "ambitious outcome" at next month's Copenhagen climate talks but gave no target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"We... reaffirm our commitment to tackle the threat of climate change and work towards an ambitious outcome in Copenhagen," they said in a declaration at the end of a two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

The 21-member grouping declared climate change "one of the biggest global challenges" but dropped a target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a goal outlined in an earlier draft of the joint statement.

Instead, they restated a 2007 "aspirational target" to reduce energy intensity -- greenhouse gas emissions per unit of economic output -- by at least 25 percent by 2030.

The declaration also emphasised developing countries' campaign to pressure rich nations to bear the financial burden of measures to counter global warming.

"Global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will need to be accompanied by measures, including financial assistance and technology transfer to developing economies for their adaptation to the adverse impact of climate change," it said.

Yi Xianliang, a Chinese foreign ministry official who is part of the country's negotiating team at world climate talks, said Saturday that the 50 percent reduction target had to be omitted from the APEC declaration.

"It is a very controversial issue in the world community... if we put it in this statement, I think it would disrupt the negotiation process," he told reporters on the sidelines of APEC.

Hastily convened climate change talks that took place here earlier Sunday, with leaders including the presidents of the US and China, failed to yield a breakthrough ahead of the December talks in Copenhagen.

"There was an assessment by the leaders that it was unrealistic to expect a full, internationally legally-binding agreement to be negotiated between now and when Copenhagen starts in 22 days," US Deputy National Security Adviser Mike Froman told reporters.

Froman said there was broad consensus for a "one agreement, two steps" arrangement that would see an in-principle agreement in Copenhagen followed later by a legally binding pact.