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05 Jul 2001
The President of the climate negotiations, Jan Pronk, said today in the Dutch parliament that he would be willing to agree to a two year delay in the timetable for emissions reductions under the Kyoto Protocol if it enabled countries to reach agreement in Bonn.
The announcement follows comments by Japanese officials that they no longer see the Bonn talks (scheduled 16-27 July) as the deadline to reach agreement on rules to implement Kyoto because they want to get the United States back on board. This deadline was adopted at the 1998 UN climate talks in Buenos Aires.
Kate Hampton, climate coordinator for Friends of the Earth International said:
"International appeasement of the United States has gone too far. The world needs urgent action on climate change, but the US, aided by the ambivalence of Japan and other big polluters, is determined to block this. Changing the targets and timetables of Kyoto is the same as killing the agreement. Pronk must not acquiese if Kyoto is to survive."
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