Editor,

I write on behalf of the Gambian students here in Indonesia, to convey our sincerest gratitude and highest appreciation to the government and people of The Gambia, both at home and in the diaspora , for attending the celebration of the 43 years of nationhood under the able leadership of His Excellency President Jammeh.

Since the coming of the AFPRC in 1994, President Jammeh has prophecised so many things for The Gambia. People thought he was just dreaming. But today, Gambians and non-Gambians are beginning to harvest the fruits of his prophecies.

Today we have witness numerous developments in his 13 years rule compared to the 300 years of British colonial rule. Just to name a few; the just concluded elections have seen The Gambia to be a champion of democracy and worth of emulation from other countries around the world.

For the issue of the Carnegie Minerals Operation, the President and government should not leave no stone unturn for those exploiters to face the full force of the Law.

The operation no comprise should lay hands on this unscrupulous mining company who again want to rob our motherland   - The Gambia. During the British colonial rule, so many minerals were mined and exported out of the country, without T he Gambia benefiting from it.

This is was confirmed in one of the statements delivered by President Jammeh. And worst of all, they burnt all the documents and they took away the rest thinking that we Gambians are fools and will never be able to find out the truth.

But thanks to the President for revealing all these truth to the Gambian people. For this, Gambians will ever be grateful to you especially, we the Gambian students here in Indonesia.

May the Almighty Allah continue to shower his blessings on the president, his family, the government and the people of The Gambia. May Allah also protect this online newspaper company the Daily Observer so that Gambians in the diaspora will continue to benefit from your services. Long live The Gambia, long live Progress, peace and prosperity.

Enjoy a happy Independence anniversary.

Ebrima Sarr

Indonesia

"They can see the trees, but not the forest," groaned a frustrated Slovenian environmental bureaucrat as a debate ran into the small hours of the morning in Bali over whether a "facility" or a "programme" would be appropriate for the developing world to acquire technology to adapt to, and reduce, global warming.

"At the end of the day they are just words aren't they? It is all so disconnected from the world outside that we are trying to save here," she told IRIN.

But words matter in developing countries with little money, capacity or technology to cope with the increasingly frequent and intense weather events that are not only destroying large numbers of human lives but changing the surviving population's lives, sometimes for good.

Words also matter in the developed world, under increasing pressure to do more to cut their greenhouse gas emissions as required by the Kyoto Protocol, a commitment they made in 1997, which also requires them to help poor countries cut their emissions.

The Protocol is essentially a deal between the developed and the developing world. "Each country has to look after their national interest - one must always bear that in mind," said José Romero, of the Swiss Federal Environment Office.

So, every night was a long one in the Indonesian island as countries debated a framework for the Bali Roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions after 2012, when the first commitment phase of the Protocol ends.

The Bali Roadmap sets out an agenda for two years of talks with a deadline in 2009 for a new agreement to cut emissions and prevent dangerous climate change. Pilot projects measuring emissions reduction from forestry projects were also agreed, as a first step towards future forest management and reclamation projects.

Almost derailed

A wrangle over words almost derailed the talks. As the gavel was about to go down on the new agreement, the developing world, led by G77/China, found that the rich countries' part of the bargain to provide guaranteed assistance had been watered down to a mere assurance.

"We have been so accommodating and flexible - the developed world has not even included the required post-2012 emission targets in their part of the bargain," said Kapil Sibal, India's Minister for Science and Technology.

"We [the European Union (EU)] also ended up accommodating - in our case it was the Americans, the Japanese and the Canadians [all with bad track records of reducing emissions]," said a European official.

The main divide was between the US and the majority of developing countries, which stood against the world's biggest economy for consensus on how to move forward in negotiating a new climate change framework.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has suggested cuts of between 25 and 40 percent by 2020 to avoid a 2-degree Celsius increase in global temperature - the kind of increase that is expected to destroy 30 to 40 percent of all known species, with bigger, fiercer and more frequent heat waves and droughts, and more intense weather events like floods and cyclones.

Hilary Benn, Britain's secretary for environment, said the EU had supported the developing countries' position all along, but many member states of the EU were upset that apart from references to the need for "deep cuts", no new emission reduction targets were laid down in the Bali Roadmap.

The spoiler joins the process

Perhaps the most significant outcome of Bali was that the US, which initially refused to endorse the G77/China position, agreed to the Bali Roadmap and is now part of the global process to tackle climate change.

The US, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has still not ratified the Kyoto Protocol because it wants China and India, the world's fastest growing economies, to adhere to emission reduction targets as well. It continued to press that line in Bali.

Over the next decade China is set to become the world's largest source of carbon dioxide emissions; India is one of the biggest emitters, while South Africa has the biggest carbon footprint in Africa.

"We - South Africa, Brazil, China and India - assured them [the US] that we are committed to combat climate change; to taking measurable, reportable and verifiable mitigation action. Our commitment took us beyond what was required from us [the developing countries] by the Kyoto Protocol," said Marthinus van Schalkwyk, South Africa's minister of environmental affairs.

An African minister remarked, "It [the US] was so isolated, it had no choice but to join the others." Paula Dobriansky, the US Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, who led the delegation, described the process as a "new chapter in climate diplomacy."

"It was not a retreat," Alexander Karsner, the US Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy later remarked to IRIN. "It was just what has being going on here for the past two weeks - making adjustments."

Something for everyone

On the whole, the developed world managed to strike a good deal for itself. "The Bali Roadmap does not ensure that all developed countries will negotiate on binding reduction targets, and leaves open the possibility for voluntary actions by developed countries as well," said Antonio Hill, of the UK-based development agency, Oxfam.

Rich countries have been given the choice of setting their own targets according to their "national circumstances". Ironically, the developing world - where wealth and technology can be extremely varied - was not offered the same choice. "What will China and Burkina Faso have in common?" a Bangladesh environment official wondered. However, this issue will be re-examined in negotiations over the next two years.

Britain's Benn argued that most EU member states were taking emission cuts seriously. "We [the UK] are committed to reducing our emissions by 26 to 32 percent."

The deal that the developing world managed to strike for themselves - to get financing, technology transfer and adaptation - could at best be described as a "first step", Oxfam's Hill said. "There were no clear mandates about how money will flow to help the developing countries cope, but at least there is recognition."

According to a delegate from the developing world, "At least it is in the roadmap, which is a legally binding document, so we can negotiate towards it."

Deforestation

Besides the Americans coming on board, the other most significant outcome of the Bali process was the recognition of the need to deal with deforestation to stem global warming.

After years of lobbying, environmental non-governmental organisations and countries with extensive green cover welcomed possible financial support to halt deforestation and forest degradation that the Bali Roadmap has promised.

Deforestation is responsible for 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon emissions every year, amounting to one-fifth of the global total, and to more than the combined total contributed by the world's energy-intensive transport sectors, according to the Indonesia-based Centre for International Forestry Research.

But the amount of money and how it will be raised are still to be determined. South Africa's van Schalkywk commented, "If you thought this battle was hard, it is going to get harder as we negotiate for the next two years."

The countries now have two years until their next meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, to draw up the next commitment phase of the Protocol.

The decade from 1998 to 2007 has been the warmest on record, said Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the UN World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in Bali, where a UN meeting on climate change is underway.

"The global mean surface temperature for 2007 is currently estimated at 0.41 degrees Celsius more than the 1961-1990 annual average of 14 degrees Celsius," Jarraud announced.

"The rise in temperature can be directly linked to global warming," said Avinash Tyagi, head of the climate and water department at WMO. "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has already projected that by 2020 up to 250 million people in Africa will be under severe water stress, and several million in Asia will be without access to fresh water."

The year 2005 was the "hottest ever", and 2007 the second "hottest", former US Vice-President Al Gore noted in a speech on 13 December. He urged industrialised countries to take action now to cut greenhouse gas emissions, warning that "the earth has a fever and it is rising ... it won't go away and heal itself, it requires intervention."

"We can only advise the decision-makers," said Jarraud, referring to the meeting in Bali. "We now know that greenhouse gas emissions are at their highest in the past 650,000 years."

Kyoto, Bali and beyond

The meeting in Bali will launch negotiations for a new deal after 2012, when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires. The Protocol is a commitment made in 1997 by 36 industrialised countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least five percent against a 1990 baseline and forms part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The IPCC has suggested cuts of between 25 and 40 percent by 2020 to avoid a 2-degree Celsius increase in global temperature. That kind of temperature rise is expected to destroy 30 to 40 percent of all known species, with bigger, fiercer and more frequent heat waves and droughts, and more intense weather events like floods and cyclones.

Saving water

Access to water will be a critical issue for poorer nations, particularly in Africa and Asia, the WMO's Tyagi said. "There is an urgent need to build the hydrological capacity in these countries now, to ensure they have the capacity to adapt. The IPCC has also predicted that food production as a result of the pressure on water will halve in Africa."

In many instances there were simple solutions to save water, he added. "Water in Africa is often lost due to seepage, as unlined open channels are used to provide water for agriculture; the use of closed conduits could help save water." The WMO has a programme to enhance hydrological services in the world's Least Developed Countries.

Tyagi said the adaptation strategies being discussed in Bali did not take the predicted water shortages into account. Millions of people could also end up without access to water in Africa and tens of millions in Asia, as a result of salinisation. "We have to start integrating strategies into national action plans now," he urged.

Bypassing the deadlock

Gore asked rich countries to help the developing world with capacity, clean technology and adaptation. Long applause followed his statement that his country, the US, was "principally responsible" for the deadlocked state of talks in Bali.

The US, which has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol because it excluded China and India, two of the world's fastest growing economies, reiterated its position at the Bali conference.

Gore urged conference delegates to take "a path that goes around that black spot [implying the US and other countries which share its position]", and forge ahead with trying to set targets for emission cuts at a later stage - after US elections in 2008. He also called on the conference to implement the new deal in 2010, two years before the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

The climate conference that was held for the last two weeks in Bali came to a conclusion on Saturday. Agreement was reached on the so called Bali roadmap, but opinions differed on the substance of this and other documents that were decided upon.

The Roadmap establishes the target year of 2009 and the scope for a post-2012 climate change agreement. This agreement is expected to include the setting, for industrialized nations, of reduction targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, amongst other things.

While the EU had wished for the inclusion of a guideline range of 25-40% for GHG emission cuts by industrialized nations by 2020, this had been opposed by the US and others, and so was not included in the final "roadmap" which addresses all nations that are part of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC). The range was however included in the preable of the document agreed on by the members of the Kyoto Protocol.

Bali Roadmap breakdown

The "Bali Roadmap" document can be seen as having three distinct sections:

The first is the preamble, which is non binding and is there to put the following decisions in context. This is where the guideline emissions cut range would have been. Still included is a reference to the latest report by the international body of scientists that is charged with assessing the current state of knowledge on climate change. This Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had presented its Synthesis report earlier this year. It also recognizes that "deep cuts in global emission will be required" to avoid dangerous climate change.

The second part is composed of a section calling for a "shared vision for long-term cooperative action, including a long-term global goal for emission reductions" and then goes on with a description of the four "building blocks" envisioned for tackling climate change. These are

• mitigation
• adaptation
• technology development and transfer
• and financing

The third and last part is the technical part of the document, with a proposed timetable for meetings and similiar procedural matters being included.

Current matters

But it was not just the future that was talked about. There was also consensus on a number of current issues, such as the setting up of an expanded adaptation fund, and the necessity of accelerating the transfer and development of "climate friendly" technology.

Opinions

Perspectives on the outcome varied, with some non governmental organizations (NGOs) like Greenpeace International being generally happy that an agreement was achieved, but stating that a stronger mandate for the post 2012 negotiations had been wished for, and that current issues were not all addressed satisfactorily either.

The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon on the other hand welcomed the outcome of the conference, stating that all of his three benchmarks for success had been reached. He went on to say that he "believes that the Bali Roadmap that has been agreed is a pivotal first step toward an agreement that can address the threat of climate change, the defining challenge of our time."

The EU also welcomed the agreement that was reached, with Commission President José Manuel Barroso noting that "We have worked hard to achieve this result. It is a very important step forward." Both he and Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for Environment, made it clear that Bali had only been the start of what needed to be done, with the later stating that "Now the real hard work must begin. It is essential that the agreement to be worked out over the next two years is ambitious enough to prevent global warming from reaching dangerous levels.”

After the United States agreed to the changes proposed by India this morning, the so called Bali Roadmap has been agreed on, to applause from all parties. The decision was made at this years United Nations world climate change conference in Bali.

Following the reopening of the plenary at midday, Pakistan reiterated its position that part of a paragraph needed to be reformulated. The EU went on to state that in the spririt of negotiations, they agreed with the proposed changes. After some further statements by other nations, the US said that they can not accept the changes, as they would considerably change the balance of the text. This was met with loudly audible booing in the plenary. Some time later, after a number of other nations voiced their opinions and the American delegation could be seen busily debating and writing, the US then said they would agree to the consensus position after all. Standing ovations and cheers welcomed this change in position, which allowed the President of the Conference soon thereafter to declare the document decided.

India this morning had raised objections on one of the central documents of what constitutes the so called "Bali Roadmap". This had made a decision impossible for the timebeing, as the conference can only pass items unanimously. The objection regarded the phrasing of how nations with developing industries are to take action to slow and reduce their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The President of the Conference, the Indonesian Environmental Minister, had declined the request, stating that the proposal he had made was very finely balanced. The President had then suspended the session so that further consultations could be made.

No progress was made when the meeting was reopened about an hour later, with China stating that negotiations of the so called Group of 77 and China with the Indonesian Minister of Finance were still ongoing. China then accused the UNFCCC secretariat of deliberately opening the plenary session at a time it knew that their Ministers were in talks. The Chinese delegate went on to demand an apology by the secretariat, and the meeting was again suspended.

Ministerial negotiations had continued through the night until the early morning hours yesterday and the climate conference was scheduled to decide on the last outstanding items this morning.

Yesterday evening Yvo de Boer of the UNFCCC had said that the parties were "on the brink of agreement", when he was asked where negotiations currently stand. With almost all open matters having been agreed on by a group of 40 ministers, one of the last outstanding points was still the question of guideline numbers for GHG cuts.
Some of the issues that had still been open the day before yesterday (for example how deforestation was to be addressed and the matter of financial support for developing countries to send and support negotiators to the UN climate conferences), had apparently been addressed to everyones satisfaction during yesterdays informal talks.

But the talks were still on with regard to preambular text of a document that states how further action to mitigate climate change is to be taken, the inclusion of a 25-40% range for reductions in GHG emissions for industrialized nations by 2020 from 1990 levels being contested.

The draft decision proposed by the President of the Conference today no longer included the numbers, but did make reference to the latest report by the international body of scientists that is charged with assessing the current state of knowledge on climate change. This Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had presented its Synthesis report earlier this year.

After almost two weeks of negotiations, this years United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNCCC) is soon going to end, Friday being scheduled as the last day of the talks, with an extension until Saturday being possible if agreement can not be reached beforehand.

While the head of the UNFCCC Secretariat, Yvo de Boer, stressed from the onset that actual targets for emission reductions were not to be expected to be agreed on, the inclusion of a target frame for industrialized nations is being debated after all. However, his stated goal of deciding on a roadmap for negotiations, which he said needed to address the matter of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reductions after 2012, and would have to be concluded by 2009, is not yet achieved, there being disagreement on a matter of points.

China for example restated a position it had made at the beginning of the first week, calling for 2010 as target year for the so called "Bali Roadmap".

But a bigger point of contention is that the EU and the vast majority of the 190 nations participating in the conference want to set a target of a 25-40% cut in GHG emissions. The U.S., along with Canada and Japan, are refusing to agree to any targets at this point.

The EU and others say it is important to set targets now, to get a head start in the fight against global warming. The U.S. says targets should come later, after negotiations begin.

The latest to be heard by Sean Heron, who is reporting on behalf of the Wikinews on site, regarding the ongoing negotiations was a statement by a Pakistani official, saying that the US had made a new proposal, and that he was feeling more optimistic than he had the day before. The official spoke in the press conference room, excusing the Ambassador Munir Akram, who was supposed to give a briefing on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, but couldn't make it, as negotiations, due also to the new American suggestion, were still ongoing at 11 pm local time.

Developing countries top a 2008 Climate Risk Index released in the Indonesian island of Bali, where the United Nations climate change conference is taking place.

The index shows that less developed countries often suffer more from storms, floods and extreme weather than industrialised countries, according to Germanwatch, the development non-governmental organisation that produced the study.

The findings of the index should give impetus to the negotiations in Bali to draw up a new climate deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and at the same time draw attention to helping poorer countries adapt to the effects of climate change, said Sven Harmeling, senior advisor on climate and development at Germanwatch.

Munich Reinsurance, one of the world's biggest insurance companies, provided the data for the study, based on weather events in 2006.

The insurance company, along with the UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security, the World Bank, the UK-based Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and India's Tata Energy Research Institute, also launched an initiative at the conference to raise funds for climate insurance for the poor in the developing countries.

Thomas Loster, managing director of the Munich Reinsurance Foundation, said climate-risk insurance was an important tool for helping the poor adapt to climate change. "The Munich Climate Insurance Initiative was officially presented to the conference and, subject to endorsement, will seek to raise money from industrialised countries to underwrite insurance for the affected poor in the developing countries."

The World Bank noted in its flagship report in 2007 that the lack of subsidies or at least start-up costs, had prevented several pilot initiatives to reduce uninsured risks in smallholder agriculture from taking off.

The Philippines, the Democratic Republic of Korea and Indonesia top the 2006 Climate Risk Index list, while Honduras, Nicaragua and Bangladesh get the top three slots on a list ranking the impact of extreme weather events from 1997 to 2006.

"Extreme weather events play an important role not only in climate-change science, but also in public discussions about the impacts and consequences of global warming," said the Risk Index study.

The index was compiled using data on four indicators: total number of deaths, deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, losses in million US$ of purchasing power parities, and losses per unit of Gross Domestic Product.

Numerous events in 2007, like the large-scale flooding in the Sahel or the devastating cyclone in Bangladesh, have "reminded the world of the necessity to prepare for disasters and mitigate the long-term consequences of climate change", said Germanwatch's Harmeling.

"The 10 natural disasters with the highest number of victims in 2007 occurred in poor countries," Loster confirmed. "There was only one among them that was not due to weather events. Climate change entails more frequent weather extremes, and poor people are particularly vulnerable."

Although an individual extreme event cannot be linked directly to man-made climate change, the study pointed out that the likelihood of occurrence increased with rising temperatures.

The scientific community have advised a 25 to 40 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to avoid a rise of two degrees Celsius in the global temperature.

That kind of warming is expected to destroy 30 to 40 percent of all known species, with bigger, fiercer and more frequent heat waves, floods and droughts.

The Bali negotiations will try to work towards a new deal for cuts after 2012, when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires.

The Protocol is a commitment made in 1997 by 36 industrialised countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least five percent against a 1990 baseline, and forms part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This is an international environmental treaty produced at the Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The treaty is aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to combat global warming.

The 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events in 2006

1. Philippines
2. Democratic Republic of Korea
3. Indonesia
4. Vietnam
5. Ethiopia
6. India
7. China
8. Afghanistan
9. United States
10. Romania

The 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events from 1997 to 2006

1. Honduras
2. Nicaragua
3. Bangladesh
4. Vietnam
5. Dominican Republic
6. Haiti
7. India
8. Venezuela
9. France
10. Germany

Increasing pressure caused by climate change on essential resources like water could not only trigger domestic conflicts but also have a destabilising effect globally, warn UN officials.

"It is not far-fetched to begin to see growing tensions; not far fetched to think climate change will globally have a destabilising effect," said Achim Steiner, Executive Secretary of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), who drew a scenario in which countries heavily affected by climate change would blame those not seen as doing enough to cut emissions.

Steiner's comments followed the release of a report, Climate Change as a Security Risk, by the German government's scientific advisory body on 10 December at the UN climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia: it warned that environmental shocks could outpace the adaptive capacities of some societies in the coming decades.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that by 2020 up to 250 million people in Africa could be exposed to increased water stress, and food production could be halved. Fresh water availability in Asia was also expected to fall.

"This could result in destabilisation and violence, jeopardising national and international security to a new degree," the German Advisory Council's report commented.

Research in recent decades has shown that land degradation, water shortages and resource competition, when combined with other conflict-amplifying factors, have caused violence and conflict in the past, said the German study. Earlier this year, UNEP cited the war in Darfur as an example of the impact of climate change on stability.

"We are not trying to depoliticise the conflict," said Steiner, "[but] we need to learn, to understand, that if we had taken into account some of the factors [related to climate change], we could have avoided some of the conflicts that have exploded."

Regional hotspots

The German government's report draws scenarios of the social impact of climate change in regional hotspots. Some of them are:

• North Africa: The populous Nile Delta will be at risk from sea-level rise and salinisation in agricultural areas. A drop in food production, water scarcity, high population growth and poor political problem-solving capacity could intensify political crisis and migratory pressure.

• Sahel zone: Drought, water scarcity and food insecurity in a region already characterised by weak states and instability could aggravate social crises.

• Southern Africa: Droughts and water scarcity could overstretch capacities in some of the poorest countries in the world.

• Central Asia: Above-average warming and glacial retreat could exacerbate problems in the region, characterised by political and social tensions.

• India, Pakistan, Bangladesh: Glacial retreat in the Himalayas would jeopardise water supply to millions of people, with sea-level rise and cyclones aggravating crises characterised by cross-border conflicts (India and Pakistan) and unstable governments.

"If we look at South Asia alone, the melting [glaciers would mean] tens of millions of people will have to leave their livelihoods. Where will they go? How will they impact on the host communities that receive them?" said Steiner. "We must look at the potential security threat posed by these changes - we cannot bury our heads in the sand."

Global tensions playing out

The German Council pointed out that rising new powers like China and India, which are set to become the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, and the US's "simultaneous loss of power" could make it difficult to achieve breakthroughs in multilateral climate policy.

It called on the European Union (EU) to play a leading role in convincing the US and Asian powers to come to the party in Bali to help put in place a new deal after 2012, when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires.

The Protocol is a commitment made in 1997 by 36 industrialised countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least five percent against a 1990 baseline, and forms part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This is an international environmental treaty produced at the Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The treaty is aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to combat global warming.

The UNFCCC set no mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual nations and contained no enforcement provisions, and so is considered legally non-binding. The treaty included provisions for updates, called "protocols", that would set mandatory emission limits. The principal update is the Kyoto Protocol.

The US has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol because it excluded China and India, two of the world's fastest growing economies. At a press briefing on 10 December, Harland Watson, the US Senior Climate Negotiator, reiterated his country's position. He said the US was seeking a "shared global role" in emission reductions.

Watson also indicated that the US had objected to a reference to emission cuts of 25 to 40 percent by 2020 in a draft text of the new deal, as it did not want to predict the outcome of the final agreement expected to be hammered out in 2009, when the next meeting of all parties to the UNFCCC takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Canada and Japan have also objected to the reference to 25 to 40 percent emission cuts in the draft, "but they are not backing the US position, they want the US to make a commitment before they do," explained Martinus van Schalkwyk, South Africa's environment minister.

Steiner said a new climate agreement should reflect the findings of the scientific community, which has called for a 25 to 40 percent cut by 2020 to avoid a 2-degree Celsius increase in global temperature.

That kind of temperature rise is expected to destroy 30 to 40 percent of all known species, with bigger, fiercer and more frequent heat waves, floods and droughts.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali is nearing its halfway mark. Senior delegates are hopeful an international agreement will be reached on how to control harmful climate emissions when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012, but environmental activists fear the talking is taking too long.

Delegates in Bali hope to begin drafting a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to contain rising global temperatures. Many scientists believe the emissions contribute to a rise in global temperatures.
Yvo de Boer, the United Nations' climate change chief, told reporters Friday that over the past two days, the mood at negotiations has been positive.

Asked to provided a concrete example of progress, he said a special working group of delegates has agreed that any future agreement should include ways to encourage countries such as China and India to develop environmentally friendly practices as their industries and economies grow.

"So they've gone into an in-depth discussion on mitigation, and have come to the conclusion that really a strong focus needs to be on putting in place incentives for developing countries to mitigate climate change. That came up very strongly. That, to me at least, is a good indication that the mood is good, people are at work," said de Boer.
But environmentalists have not been as optimistic about progress in this week's negotiations.

Also today the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior arrived in Bali.

Earlier this week, Japan took a position similar to the United States in proposing that any new agreement should favor voluntary emissions targets instead of mandatory ones. The two nations believe that binding emissions caps would threaten the economic growth needed to fund technology used to fight global warming.

Hans Verlome, director of the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Change Program, urged the U.S., Japan and others to take more decisive action in light of a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that found global warming is occurring and is likely caused by humans.

"We did not come to Bali to just have another process, and we have two years of talks. It is time to get on with it," said Verlome. "The IPCC report has delivered the results that are necessary to inform decision making, and the decision making is here, now."

Verlome and other environmentalists say China has taken a leading role in negotiations this week. China wants wealthy countries to help spread technology for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in poor countries.
Harlan Watson of the U.S. delegation reaffirmed his country's opposition to mandatory caps on carbon emissions, but said the U.S. would be open and flexible.

"The U.S. is committed to advancing negotiations, and developing a Bali roadmap, that will guide negotiations on a new post-2012 global climate change regime that is environmentally effective and economically sustainable," he said.
Delegates are on schedule to begin drafting proposals early next week. Environment and trade ministers are scheduled to meet over the next few days.