Tiempo Climate Newswatch

"We now have a roadmap, we have an agenda and we have a deadline. But we also have a huge task ahead of us and time to reach agreement is extremely short, so we need to move quickly," said Yvo de Boer, head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, as the United Nations Climate Change Conference 07, held in Bali, Indonesia, ended. Within days, the United States had underlined just how much distance would have to be covered as the White House announced that it had "serious concerns" about the Bali agreement. The United States came in for severe criticism for the stance it took at the Bali meeting, with agreement only reached after a last-minute U-turn by the American delegation. "The Bush administration - dragging Canada, Japan and Russia in tow - has thrown away the compass and is trying to force us all to take the journey in a gas-guzzling 4x4, not the solar-powered speedster that the world urgently needs," commented Antonio Hill, senior climate change policy adviser at Oxfam.

China announced that it was satisfied with the plan, but called on the United States to do more. "The United States is an important contributor of emissions both in total and on a per-capita basis. It has both advanced technology and ample funds," said Yu Qingtai, China's climate change ambassador. "So on the issue of tackling climate change, America should display a more positive, more constructive role," he continued. On the precise nature of any emissions control commitments taken on by the major developing nations, such as China, in a post-Kyoto agreement, and the related issue of technological assistance to developing nations, the Bali meeting rehearsed what may prove to the key debate, if not deal-breaker, in the next stage of the negotiations. The United States has long stressed the need for the leading developing nations to accept some curb on emissions growth and, for their part, developing nations underline the historic emissions responsibility of the industrialized world.

The United Nations (UN) aims to become climate neutral, offsetting emissions by investing in Adaptation Fund credits. Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said that "offsetting emissions by supporting the soon-to-be operational adaptation fund sends a clear signal that climate proofing vulnerable economies has - like the UN's action on climate change generally - risen to the top of the organization's agenda in 2007." UNEP will become climate neutral in January 2008.

An increasing number of nations are unilaterally adopting the goal of climate neutrality. New Zealand's climate change minister David Parker said recently that his country's "plan to become climate neutral involves a goal of generating 90 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2025, and halving our per capita transport emissions by 2040 by introducing electric cars and a requirement to use bio fuels." An emissions trading scheme is being introduced. New Zealand will be the main host for UN World Environment Day, with the slogan "CO₂, Kick the Habit". Costa Rica will become climate neutral as part of the new presidential initiative Peace with Nature. Norway plans to become climate neutral by the year 2050, and will go beyond its current commitment under the Kyoto Protocol. UNEP is establishing an internet-based climate neutral network.

George Bush, United States president, has signed an energy bill setting a new fuel-economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020. Fuel producers must use at least 36 billion gallons of biofuel in 2022. To ensure the bill was approved, renewable incentives and a national renewable-energy standard had been removed. Citing the bill, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has ruled that individual states cannot set their own greenhouse gas emissions standards. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that he will challenge the decision.

European car manufacturers face steep fines for failure to meet tough emissions standards under new legislation adopted by the European Union (EU). "This will send a strong signal to the world about the determination of the European Union to take bold measures on climate change," said environment commissioner Stavros Dimas, noting that voluntary curbs had failed. The proposed legislation, which now goes before the Council of EU member governments and the European parliament, was criticized from all sides. German environment minister Sigmar Gabriel termed the measures a "competition war" against the German car industry, aimed at favouring French and Italian rivals. Environmentalists accused the EU of a sell-out for phasing in the fines over four years, with no ambitious long-term goal.