Press release - December 1, 2003
As nations from around the world gather in Milan for the next round of the Kyoto Protocol talks, environmental groups confirmed that the multilateral effort to combat climate change was alive and kicking, despite the efforts of the Bush Administration to kill it.
One hundred and twenty countries have ratified the Protocol and
many are already implementing measures to curb greenhouse gas
emissions, despite the fact that the Protocol has not yet become
international law, said The Climate Action Network in Milan. This
will happen when Russia ratifies - a move expected to come after
the Russian presidential elections in early 2004.
"Russian business, politicians, and civil society are all
supportive of the Kyoto Protocol, and we are confident that Russia
will ratify soon," said Jennifer Morgan, director of the WWF
climate change program. "White House delegates are coming to Milan
to undermine this treaty, even though President Bush pledged not to
block other countries from moving forward. The Bush team must be
ignored - the governments that want to save the climate have their
work cut out for them."
The proof of the Bush regime's lack of commitment to tackling
climate change is evident by its actions, said Jeff Fiedler, of the
Natural Resources Defence Council. "The White House is pretending
its talk about science and technology is serious, but at home and
abroad it opposes any actions to reduce emissions now."
"In the rich countries there are still mercenary professionals
paid to put loopholes into the Climate Treaty, while the developing
world is forced to deal with the impacts of climate change," said
Richard Worthington, of Earthlife Africa Johannesburg. "Any
discussions of bilateral agreements are inappropriate at this
meeting and must be sidelined. The problem is global and must be
addressed at a global level."
"We can't afford to wait any longer," said Steven Guilbeault, of
Greenpeace International. "The impacts of climate change are
already affecting the lives of millions of people, in the form of
the spread of vector borne diseases to new regions, sea level rise,
increased desertification, water resource shortages and more
extreme weather events. Ministers at this meeting must speed up the
process and make sure that practical measures to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions are put in place."
The Climate Action Network is a world-wide network of over 340
non-governmental organisations working to promote goverment and
individual action to limit human-induced climate change to
ecologically sustainable levels.