The United States has presented its own "comprehensive agreement" on climate change, delegation head Johnathan Pershing announced today, the final day of a United Nations climate change conference in Bonn, according to dpa. "We are seeking a comprehensive agreement in Copenhagen," Pershing told a press conference, adding that the US hoped their proposal would form the "framework for that agreement." The proposal by the United States, which is not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, seeks to bypass the agreement due to expire in 2012. Pershing said his delegation's proposals, backed by US President Barack Obama, "called on all countries to develop long-term low- carbon scenarios." For industrialized countries, this would take the shape of a legally binding "quantitative limit on emissions, measured against a base year." Developing countries would be expected to commit to specific actions aimed at reducing emissions, but would not be bound by set targets, Pershing added. In the past, the United States has been critical of agreements which are lenient on developing countries, enabling them to opt out of binding emissions reduction targets. Over the past 12 days, 4,600 delegates from some 192 nations kick- started negotiations due to culminate in Copenhagen in December, where a successor to the Kyoto Protocol is to be agreed under the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). There was little agreement amongst industrialized and developing countries on emission reduction targets or concrete financial pledges to tackle climate change. However, the Bonn talks gave all parties a chance to outline their starting positions. "This session has made clear what governments want to see in a Copenhagen agreement," said Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UNFCCC. Slow progress was made during the 12 days of talks in Bonn. By Friday most parties had agreed that a final Copenhagen agreement would leave open many details, to be resolved at a later stage. One of the main sticking points is the financial commitments that developed countries are prepared to make to help emerging nations meet emissions targets and deal with the effects of climate change. Developing countries are reluctant to commit to action on climate change without firm financial backing from industrialized nations to help them take the necessary steps. So far however, few advances have been made on incorporating financial pledges into in any final agreement. "This process would be hugely encouraged by progress on the question of finance," de Boer said. Environmental campaigners expressed dismay at what they perceived to be a lack of political will to reach agreement in Bonn. "The talks have been in gridlock for these last two weeks," said Julie-Anne Richards of Oxfam. While "hundreds and hundreds of pages of negotiating texts" had been amassed, Richards said the overall emissions reduction target for industrialized nations was "missing in action." The pledges made to date were "less than half of what is required" to keep global temperatures within 2 degrees of current levels, the Oxfam spokeswoman said. Japan's 8-per-cent emissions reduction target over 1990 levels, announced during the Bonn talks, dealt poor countries a "final slap in the face," Richards added. De Boer maintained his optimism that this year's series of climate change discussions would yield results by the end of the year. "I'm confident that governments can reach agreement in Copenhagen, and want to reach agreement in Copenhagen," de Boer said.
