Yesterday the United States agreed to participate in a seminar to be held in 2005 with an aim to discuss emissions and their controls combined with climate change generally. This has been a global effort and it is a positive step forward albeit a small one in bringing the US back to the table and into the discussion.
Held in Buenos Aries, the agreement came in what can only be described as the 11th hour with only two hours remaining at the climate change conference. ?It’s a finger-hold?, the climate negotiator Michael Zammit Cutajar of Malta commented, and it is progress for climate control campaigners and activists.
It was business as usual however regarding negotiation of reductions in carbon dioxide emissions for the US, who failed to make any commitment to negotiate as has been the norm since 2001.
The US instead of concentrating on emissions reductions and targets would prefer to concentrate on programmes under development in the United States for cleaner burning energy technology. The US agreement to participate in the climate change and control seminar next year came after compromise to also discuss these clean burn fuel technologies.