| AT THE UN, ABOUT THE FUTURE OF MANKIND 23/09/09 |
| (2009-09-23) |
| Last updated: 2009-09-24 16:07 EET |
Obama reiterated Washington’s goal to bring greenhouse gas emissions in the US to the level of 1990 by 2020 and called on world leaders to join the fight against global warming. China, which is at the moment is the world’s biggest polluter, ahead of the US, also promised to take action to prevent global warming. Through its president Hu Jintao, Bejing spoke about a significant reduction of carbon emissions in China in the next 10 years. Good intentions were well received, but a more detailed approach is still expected from the world’s biggest polluters, China and the US, who are responsible for 40% of all carbon dioxide emissions in the world.
However, according to the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, the summit in New York gave a new impetus to the efforts to fight global warming, and the upcoming summit on the issue, to be held in Copenhagen in December, is more likely to end in a consensus. Analysts believe that time is too short to do away with the strong differences which hinder the signing of a global agreement in the area. Romania’s foreign minister Cristian Diaconescu, who attended the summit in New York, explains:
“It is possible to reach a global, legally binding agreement. On the other hand, we also need a mechanism, besides the legal agreement, to should provide support and financial and technical programmes by which the countries with polluting emissions to participate in a joint project together with the other states. Making all the necessary financial arrangements is very important.”
Under the Kyoto protocol, Romania is also assigned a certain greenhouse gas emissions quota and is interested that, in case these quotas are reduced, it could still have its unused surplus available to it, for financial reasons. The European Union has committed unilaterally to reduce carbon emissions by 2020 by 20% compared to the level recorded in 1990. If all developed states and the big polluters agree on the compatible measures to be taken, the next step is for the European Union, Romania included, to aim at a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
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2025-04-03
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