official texts and speeches
Developing a Global Strategy to Address Global Warming
Last week, as the international community observed World Environment Day, the “hot topic” was again global warming and what we can do about it. Significantly, the United States, Europe and other countries agree there is a problem and that we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. So far, however, we have yet to agree on a common global strategy and have been pursuing different approaches. The U.S., which unlike EU members did not join the Kyoto Protocol, has undertaken a wide range of measures in the past several years, including mandatory and incentivebased programs and public private partnerships. Since 2001 the U.S. has devoted $37 billion to climate change-related efforts, including incentives to cut emissions and the development of new, cleaner energy technologies such as hydrogen, advanced wind and solar, bio-fuels, nuclear power, fusion and carbon capture and storage. Initial results are encouraging. From 2000 to 2005, while the U.S. population grew by 4 percent and GDP grew by over 12.5 percent, our greenhouse gas emissions grew by less than 1.6 percent and carbon dioxide emissions grew by only 2.5 percent. In the same period, the EU had population and economic growth of 1.8 percent and 9 percent, respectively, with an increase of 1.4 percent in greenhouse gas emissions and 3.8 percent in carbon dioxide emissions.
The U.S., Europe and other major greenhouse gas producing countries can do better, particularly if we agree on an effective global strategy to meet this global challenge. That is why on May 31 President Bush announced an initiative to develop an international framework to address climate change. Under this initiative, the United States will work with other nations to establish a long-term global goal for reducing greenhouse gases by the end of 2008. To develop this goal the United States will convene a series of meetings with the nations that produce the most greenhouse gas emissions, including rapidly growing economies such as China and India. In addition to this global goal, each country would establish mid-term national targets, and programs that reflect their own mix of energy sources and energy needs. Governments would draw on expertise from academia and industry on clean energy technology and best practices. Since the aim of the initiative is to get results, we would push for a rigorous, transparent system for measuring each country’s performance.
The initiative announced by President Bush is intended to complement, not compete with, existing national and international efforts to address climate change. Moreover, it is intended to forge a truly global consensus and effort for dealing with one of the most important global challenges of our time. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has welcomed President Bush’s announcement. We hope that the EU and our other partners around the world will also respond positively.