Archived press release

Climate talks: 6 reasons why the deal is junk

24 November 2000

Friends of the Earth International has published six top reasons why the proposed Pronk deal at the Hague talks is "junk".

1.It allows greenhouse gas emissions to rise by the end of the first commitment period(2008-2012). Even on a strict reading of the Pronk text, it could allow emissions to rise by more than 5%. This is the exact opposite of the whole point of the Kyoto Treaty which set a world reduction target of 5.2%.

2.It allows a giant "free gift" to the United States of at least 50 million carbon tonnes a year towards their Kyoto Targets, by counting CO2 sequestered by existing forests and farmlands.It also allows forest projects in the Clean Development Mechanism, creating another huge loophole in the Treaty and encouraging the destruction of old growth forests and their replacement by monoculture plantations.

3.It fails to protect developing countries, which will suffer most from climate change.

4.It creates a giant market in hot air trading, which will be exploited for profit by multinational companies like DuPont and Texaco, which have done so much to create pollution from fossil fuels in the first place.

5.It fails to exclude nuclear power from the Joint Implementation mechanism, allowing developed countries to finance, build and extend the life of nuclear stations in former Soviet and Eastern European countries.

6.It gives the US exactly what it sought on compliance - only requiring countries that fail to meet their Kyoto targets in the first commitment period to add to their targets in the next. The EU demand for strict financial penalties has been dropped.

Commenting, FOEI Climate Campaigner Frances MacGuire said:
"The Pronk deal is junk. In fact, it will render the Kyoto Treaty less an agreement on the environment than a squalid deal on international trade. The very countries and companies which created the disaster of man-made climate change are now manoeuvring to profit from it. Unless major changes are made at the eleventh hour,many people will pay with their lives, homes and jobs for this second rate stitch up".

For further information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

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Archived press release

Climate talks: 6 reasons why the deal is junk

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