Emissions Must Peak by 2020, U.S. Says in Group of Eight Draft

By Kim Chipman

July 2 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is joining other developed countries for the first time in saying global greenhouse gases should peak by 2020 and the average worldwide temperature shouldn’t rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, according to a draft document of the Group of Eight industrialized nations.

“This is a crucial year for taking rapid and effective global action to combat climate change,” according to the text, not yet final, that is being negotiated by government officials ahead of next week’s G-8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy. The draft was circulated by nongovernmental organizations.

World leaders at the gathering, including President Barack Obama, also will discuss a new climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol after it expires in 2012. Almost 200 countries are set to gather in Copenhagen in December to debate terms for a new accord to combat rising temperatures and sea levels.

Obama, who will be chairman of the climate meeting, will be watched by other leaders for signals on where the U.S. stands on issues such as emissions-reduction targets and how much rich nations should do to help poorer countries deal with the impacts of climate change.

The Democratic president will arrive in Italy with a victory to promote after the U.S. House approved legislation last week that would set the first-ever U.S. cap on greenhouse gases from power plants, factories and other sources. The Senate hasn’t yet acted on a measure.

World Stage

“It marks the first serious step toward the U.S. reengaging in the world stage on global warming,” said Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington.

Obama’s commitment to limiting the average increase in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), if made final, would also be a first for the U.S. His administration hasn’t endorsed the limit. Some scientists, countries and the European Union say temperature rises above this level would trigger dangerous climate shifts.

Former President George W. Bush rejected the Kyoto pact in 2001. Bush argued that a mandatory cap on greenhouse-gas emissions would cost jobs and harm the economy. He pushed instead for voluntary reductions and market-based incentives for new, “clean” technologies.

Some lawmakers also objected to the U.S. taking more stringent actions while emerging economies such as China weren’t required to do so under the Kyoto treaty.

A draft declaration of leaders participating in next week’s climate change meeting, the so-called Major Economies Forum, says countries including the U.S., China, Brazil, India, Russia and the European Union support an “aspirational” goal of curbing worldwide greenhouse-gas emissions by 50 percent by 2050, according to the preliminary text, which is still subject to change. Developed nations would cut such pollution by at least 80 percent by mid-century.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Chipman in Washington at kchipman@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: July 1, 2009 22:38 EDT

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