Lib Dem MEP appalled at US rejection of Kyoto proposal

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 4th Apr 2001

Lib Dem MEP, Diana Wallis, has condemned the decision of the US government, under new President George W Bush, to drop the Kyoto Treaty on global warming.

In support of a motion to be discussed at the EP on Thursday, Diana Wallis, Lib Dem Euro MP for Yorkshire and the Humber, said:

"I am outraged by George W Bush's recent declaration that the US will not participate in the UN Kyoto protocol. It is appalling that the majority of the world population are being sacrificed for the sake of short-term corporate greed in the USA.

"President Clinton signed the protocol in good faith in 1998 recognising the 'global threat of climate change to future well-being and economic progress.'

"The resolution going to the European Parliament, with the determined support of other EU bodies and individual member states, will hopefully force a change of mind in the US administration. Until then many individuals may take their own view on how best to bring economic pressure to bear on the USA."

Text of the motion:

Strasbourg, 2 April 2001

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

On climate change

The European Parliament,

• having regard to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of December 1997 and the forthcoming Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP6) to be held in Bonn in July this year,

A. Whereas the European Council in Stockholm reiterated its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol as a basis for efficient international action to reduce climate change emissions,

B. Whereas it is essential that agreement be reached at the Bonn Conference so that the ratification and entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol in 2002 can take place,

C. Whereas the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC (inter-governmental panel on climate change) further confirms and reinforces the need for urgent action to tackle climate change,

D. Whereas the current adverse trends in climate change can only be reversed if appropriate measures are taken to control greenhouse gas emissions at the international level, and in particular by the industrialised countries,

E. Whereas President Prodi and Prime Minister Göran Persson have called on President Bush to engage in a "high-level dialogue" between the EU and US in order to resolve differences over the protocol,

F. Whereas the UN climate control protocol is a transparent mechanism for showing newly industrialising countries that industrialisation and environmental protection can, and indeed must, go hand in hand,

1. Welcomes the European Council declaration in Stockholm on climate change and in particular the recognition of "climate change as a global threat to future well-being and economic progress".

2. Strongly condemns the position of the Bush administration as recently illustrated in the recent declaration that the US will not participate in the UN Kyoto protocol.

3. Is appalled that the long-term interests of the majority of the world population are being sacrificed for the sake of short-term corporate greed in the US.

4. Recalls that President Clinton signed the treaty in 1998 and calls therefore on the present US administration to engage in constructive dialogue with the EU so that the 2002 implementation date can be respected.

5. Reiterates its determination that the EU and its Member States should implement without delay a balanced set of policies and measures so that the EU can meet its Kyoto target, irrespective of any setbacks in the negotiations.

6. Calls upon the Council, the Presidency and the Commission to work constructively with the other parties to the Kyoto Protocol to design environmentally sound rules that will allow the Protocol to enter into force by 2002.

7. Emphasises that the Kyoto Protocol can only realise its full potential as a major step towards combating the global greenhouse effect if it is ratified.

8. Firmly believes that the more industrialised countries have a moral duty to play a leading role in curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

9. Instructs its President to forward the present resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the United States Congress and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.