The planet's players.

PositionMajor players in international discussions on climatic change

Both climate change and policies to minimize its effects have enormous environmental and economic implications. The costs of climate change will vary widely from country to country. Developed countries are responsible for over two thirds of past emissions and some 75 per cent of current emissions, but they are best positioned to protect themselves from damage. Developing countries tend to have low per capita emissions, are in great need of economic development and more vulnerable to climate-change impacts. These differences have helped to shape the positions that Governments take in international talks. The key players are:

* The European Union. In response to environmental concerns, EU played a leading role in launching the Convention negotiations. In general, EU supported binding targets and timetables for emissions reduction. Other countries did not agree, and these were not included in the treaty. The European Union also supported allowing countries to adhere to joint targets. This now affects the internal discussion between the EU's poorer members, who argue for higher emissions quotas within any future overall EU target, and the richer members, who would have to reduce their emissions further to compensate for this.

* The JUSSCANZ countries - the non-EU developed countries - including Japan, the United States, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway. The non-European members of this group tend to share a concern for a more "flexible" approach to limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The United States in particular played a key role in the drafting of article 4.2, on developed-country commitments to limit emissions. Despite what has been called the "creative ambiguity" of the final text, it is almost universally interpreted as committing developed countries to make a sincere effort to return their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2000. When the Clinton Administration came into office in 1993, it softened the United States line and explicitly announced the United States intention to pursue stabilization.

* Countries with economies in transition. The industrialized countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are significant emitters of greenhouse gases. However, due to the economic slump following the end of communism, they will likely succeed in keeping their emissions below 1990 levels through 2000. Afterwards, however, their economies and emissions levels are expected to revive.

* The...

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