Climate change is likely to dominate discussions at the three day summit of the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrial economies beginning on Wednesday in Heiligendamm, Germany.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, host of the meeting, wants G8 members to agree that global warming should be kept to a maximum of 2° C; to reduce their emissions by 50 per cent of their 1990 level by 2050; and to start work on a global emissions trading scheme.
But Ma Kai, Director of China's National Development and Reform Commission, which determines climate change policy, has said that the EU proposal to limit warming to 2C has not been subjected to proper study.
"I fear this lacks a scientific basis," he said of the EU's proposed goal.
Meanwhile Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will bring his own climate change plan to the G8 talks. "We have our own plan. We don't have the German plan. We don't have the American plan. We have a Canadian plan ... with excellent ingredients to bring down greenhouse gas emissions," said Sandra Buckler, Harper's spokeswoman.
But in fact Canada does appear to support the American plan because the US President, George Bush, is calling for the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases to settle within 18 months on nation-by-nation programs for slowing emissions.
Thing is, the US fixes more carbon than it emits. If the US increased its carbon emissions, it would come close to being a net-zero emitter.
Given the slow growth of US carbon emissions, the net-zero day is a long way off.
Europe seriously needs to consider adopting the US model for carbon management if they want to walk the walk.
Brian , why do you think Europe chose 1990 for its base year?
The links didn't work. You can fid them here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita
Schiller and Ian, how do you get around this Wikipedia table which shows the US in 2003 at 19.8 tonnes of CO2 per capita while old Europe, and most of new Europe is in single figures.
This map shows where the problems are at a glance.
Geoff Kitney in the Fin Review of 2-3 June said that Germany is down 18.4% on 1990, Britain (also in Europe) is down 14.8, France was low anyway.
Is it compulsory to slag off at Europe at every opportunity?
By the way, Paul Biggs. Have you been to Fiskardo lately?
Exactly, Schiller. This is a problem of European emissions taking place on a scale that the European environment is unable to deal with. And rather than curb their own emissions they have the gall to claim that the worlds excess emissions will eventually impact on everyone else so it is everyone else's problem.
This is pure bollocks. Europe's excess emissions will spread and impact on the rest of the world and it is Europe's responsibility to either do something about it or compensate the rest of the world for the cost of their excess.
They carefully guard the benefits of their affluence while letting the costs of their affluence roam free. They have been doing it since the Punic wars.
If Europe could merely match what the US has done with its carbon emissions it would be a miracle of major proportions. But it won't, because it can't.