This must be one of the more significant oxymorons of the year. A Climate Change Conference which will likely see nothing being done to address the subject of the conference - especially as the US is blocking any positive action.
"US refusal to negotiate legally-binding carbon emissions cuts risks derailing a UN summit convened to tackle climate change, environmental groups have warned in a letter to Hillary Clinton."
The Telegraph [in the UK] reports:
"The letter, signed by 16 different organisations and sent to the US Secretary of State, said that while President Barack Obama pledged in November 2008 to "engage vigorously in these negotiations, and help lead the world toward a new era of global co-operation on climate change," he had failed to deliver on that pledge.
Instead, the letter claimed, America is fast becoming seen as a "major obstacle" to progress.
Signatories included Greenpeace USA, the Natural Resources Defence Council, Oxfam America, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the World Wildlife Fund.
Shortly after it was made public, the European Union delegation at the summit criticised the US for "overlooking the facts" on the risk of climate change and suggested it was not doing enough at home to live up to its promises to cut carbon emissions. The EU bloc wants the current talks to agree on a timetable for all major polluters to a legally binding agreement to cut their emissions by 2015.
At the opening of the UN climate change summit in Durban on Monday, the US said it would not consider committing to the EU's proposals until major developing countries such as China and India do. China, the world's biggest emitter, is also against the 2015 deadline."
"US refusal to negotiate legally-binding carbon emissions cuts risks derailing a UN summit convened to tackle climate change, environmental groups have warned in a letter to Hillary Clinton."
The Telegraph [in the UK] reports:
"The letter, signed by 16 different organisations and sent to the US Secretary of State, said that while President Barack Obama pledged in November 2008 to "engage vigorously in these negotiations, and help lead the world toward a new era of global co-operation on climate change," he had failed to deliver on that pledge.
Instead, the letter claimed, America is fast becoming seen as a "major obstacle" to progress.
Signatories included Greenpeace USA, the Natural Resources Defence Council, Oxfam America, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the World Wildlife Fund.
Shortly after it was made public, the European Union delegation at the summit criticised the US for "overlooking the facts" on the risk of climate change and suggested it was not doing enough at home to live up to its promises to cut carbon emissions. The EU bloc wants the current talks to agree on a timetable for all major polluters to a legally binding agreement to cut their emissions by 2015.
At the opening of the UN climate change summit in Durban on Monday, the US said it would not consider committing to the EU's proposals until major developing countries such as China and India do. China, the world's biggest emitter, is also against the 2015 deadline."
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