Tiempo Climate Newswatch

As the annual summit of the Group of Eight (G8) approaches, President George W Bush has announced that the United States will support a series of meetings of the world's 15 largest greenhouse gas emitters to develop a long-term "global strategy" for addressing the climate problem. The White House has re-assured the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that the initiative will complement existing negotiating processes. The first meeting will take place this autumn, before the next UNFCCC negotiating round in December in Bali.

Reaction to the announcement was mixed. "Any help the US can give us in preparing the ground for the meeting in Bali would be very welcome," responded Yvo de Boer, head of the UNFCCC Secretariat. He noted, however, that if the talks did not take on board issues such as assistance to developing nations then they would "prove fruitless." Saleemul Huq, of the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, said that he was "very suspicious." "It's only a few countries that the US is going to invite, so it will be a coalition of the willing, or unwilling coerced to join the US," he continued. According to European environment commissioner Stavros Dimas, "the declaration by President Bush basically restates the US classic line on climate change - no mandatory reductions, no carbon trading and vaguely expressed objectives." This approach has "proven to be ineffective in reducing emissions," he said.

Climate change may be exacerbating the threat of forest fires, according to the latest assessment of forest fire incidence by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Fires are expected to increase in size and intensity as global warming develops. In recent years, the United States has suffered the most severe series of fire seasons since records began. More than 7 million acres burned in 2004, with preliminary estimates indicating that 8.6 million acres might have burnt in 2005.

"Countries need to enhance collaboration, share their knowledge and increasingly target people, who are the main cause of fires, through awareness-raising and education," said Peter Holmgren of FAO's Forest Resource Development Service. The FAO and its partners have proposed a global strategy to enhance international cooperation in fire management. The strategy includes a global assessment of fire management detailing incidence and impacts in all regions, a review of international cooperation and voluntary guidelines in fire management, incorporating principles and strategic actions.