U.S. positions in international climate change negotiations.

• Author: Crook, John R.

The U.S. administration's position regarding global climate change and international measures in response appears to have evolved, moving from outright skepticism regarding the possibility of climate change attributable to human conduct, to agreement that climate is changing (1) and to acceptance that human conduct plays some role in the change. (2) In multilateral negotiations, however, the U.S. administration has strongly opposed setting mandatory targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and has advocated, instead, an approach under which countries should set their own targets for reductions based on their individual circumstances. The United States has emphasized technological innovation, alternative fuels, and energy efficiency as possible strategies to lessen greenhouse gas emissions. Some U.S. states and cities have taken a more vigorous posture regarding the risks of climate change and the need for measures in response. (3)

The United States participated in UN-sponsored negotiations in Bali in December 2007, (4) aimed at establishing a framework for further negotiations on a treaty to follow the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. (The Kyoto Protocol, to which the United States is not a party, expires in 2012.) At Bali, U.S. negotiators rejected proposals by the European Union and others to agree to seek agreement on measures requiring industrialized countries to cut emissions by 2020 to levels 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels. U.S. negotiators maintained that it was inappropriate to set such targets at the outset of negotiations, that the proposed targets were unrealistic and unattainable, and that any outcome also must include meaningful participation by rapidly industrializing countries like Brazil, China, and India. (5)

The U.S. delegation ultimately agreed to adoption by consensus of a framework for future negotiations that calls for both the industrialized world and emerging industrial powers to commit to take quantifiable, verifiable measures to reduce future emissions. (6) The final compromise package also included provisions calling for developed countries to facilitate access to clean energy technology, to provide increased financial aid to developing countries in adapting to climate change, and to provide incentives and assistance to developing countries that preserve their tropical forests. (7)

In international negotiations prior to the Bali conference, U.S. negotiators regularly sought to eliminate or dilute proposals describing climate change as a serious threat and advocating specific targets for reducing greenhouse gasses. In negotiations on the final document for the June Group of Eight summit in May and early June, the United States strongly resisted calls for specific, binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions as urged by Germany (the G-8 host country), backed by other European states and Japan. (8) (The final G-8 communique called for "substantial" cuts in emissions.) (9)

Shortly before the G-8 summit, President Bush appeared to signal greater U.S. willingness to...