U.S. negotiators edit climate out of G8 climate draft
Here’s a comforting thought for a Monday: your future is being played like a poker hand. Next month, the leaders of the G8 nations will meet in Germany along with the heads of China, India, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil. With hopes of agreeing on climate-change action, Germany has circulated a draft of a declaration that the U.S. is editing all to hell. According to press reports, U.S. negotiators have suggested cutting a pledge to limit global temperature rise; excising a promise to cut greenhouse-gas emissions 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050; axing an acknowledgment that the U.N. is the place to negotiate future climate action; and slashing statements that express concern about the latest IPCC report, say action is urgently needed, and say climate change will cause damage. On a brighter note, they did leave the word “the.” Said one anonymous source, “There is a very serious game of poker being played, which is very disappointing at this late stage and given the scale of the problem.”
