Wednesday, May 16, 2007

US Trying to Weaken G-8 Climate Change Declaration

US Trying to Weaken G-8 Climate Change Declaration

by Juliet Eilperin

WASHINGTON — Negotiators from the United States are trying to weaken the language of a climate change declaration set to be unveiled at next month’s G-8 summit of the world’s leading industrial powers, according to documents.

A draft proposal dated April 2007 that is being debated in Bonn by senior officials of the Group of Eight includes a pledge to limit the global temperature rise this century to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as an agreement to reduce worldwide greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. 0514 01

The United States is seeking to strike that section, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

Many scientists have warned that an increase of more than 3.6 degrees this century could trigger disastrous consequences such as mass extinction of species and accelerated melting of polar ice sheets, which would raise sea levels.

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