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Greenpeace to Japan: "Do
The Right Thing, Please!"
"US Stay Home!" 20 Days to Bonn
27 June 2001
Scheveningen (The
Hague), The Netherlands - Greenpeace today called on Japan to reaffirm
its commitment to climate protection, by clearly indicating that it would
ratify the Kyoto Protocol; and to clearly distance itself from the US
position. At the Dutch seaside resort near The Hague, government representatives
are conducting high-level 'informal' negotiations in preparation for the
resumption of the formal climate negotiations next month in Bonn, Germany.
Ten days after the
European Union announced that it would proceed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol
without the US, the spotlight is now on Japan as the next country to lay
its cards on the table. Public and political opinion in Japan are strongly
in favor of ratification, but the government is afraid of the political
fallout with their largest trading partner, the US, if they agree to ratify
regardless of what the US does.
"It is no longer acceptable
for Japan to represent the US position. Japan must compromise to reach
agreement with the Europeans in advance of Bonn. Japan has a very important
global responsibility to rise to the occasion," said Bill Hare, Greenpeace
International Climate Policy Director. Japan, sometimes joined by Canada
and Australia, have been moving backwards from where they were last November
on key issues, and have reintroduced the notion that nuclear power should
be included in the Clean Development Mechanism - a part of the Protocol
which defines "clean" energy - the idea of which was already discarded
in The Hague.
"The climate cannot
wait for Bush. If the US administration is not going to participate constructively
in these negotiations, then they should stay at home and not get in the
way of responsible governments who wish to respond to the public, political
and scientific call for immediate action to protect the climate," said
Bill Hare Greenpeace climate policy director.
The delegates at today's
meeting are considering the proposal put forward last week by COP6 Chair
Jan Pronk of the Netherlands. Greenpeace has performed a quantitative
analysis (full report available at address below of the Pronk proposal
and found that without the US in the agreement, the loopholes created
for the US such as "Hot Air" (allowing countries to trade their emission
shortfall due to economic downturn) and "Sinks" (getting 'credit' for
planting trees and other forms of vegetation, which would allow them to
increase their emissions) would nullify emission reduction targets of
the remaining OECD countries.
"The loopholes in
the treaty were created for the US. If the US goes, the loopholes must
go as well for the Treaty to retain any environmental integrity," said
Hare.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
PLEASE CONTACT:
Bill Hare +31 6 21296899
Michel Raquet +32 496 163365
Full
Report/ Executive Summary
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