No Guarantee Montreal Ozone Talks Will Succeed - US
Date: 18-Sep-07
Country: CANADA
Author: David Ljunggren
Claudia McMurray, US assistant secretary for the
environment, said the main problem was working out whether the
technical and financial aid available for the developing world
would be enough to satisfy countries such as China.
Delegates from almost 200 countries opened a week of talks
in Montreal on Monday, 20 years after they signed a pact in the
Canadian city to cut chemicals found to harm the ozone layer,
which protects the Earth from ultraviolet radiation.
The United States -- backed by the United Nations -- wants
to move the deadline for phasing out production and use of the
substances for developed countries to 2020 from 2030 and to
2030 from 2040 for developing nations.
"We're finding there's a lot of enthusiasm for our proposal
... I can't think of a country that's opposed to it," McMurray
told Reuters in a phone interview from Montreal.
"But, more importantly, I think for the developing
countries it will be what kind of financial assistance will
they be able to get to be able to make that transition. That's
what this week is all about"
The Montreal meeting will focus on how to quickly eliminate
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which are used in air
conditioners and fridges. Holes in the ozone layer are blamed
for increased risk of cancer and cataracts in humans.
The United States says the faster phase-out of HCFCs would
be twice as effective as the Kyoto protocol in fighting climate
change. Washington pulled out of Kyoto in 2001 on the grounds
it would harm the US economy.
China is a big HCFC producer and McMurray said authorities
there would "want to have some assurance that they will have
the financial wherewithal to make this transition smooth. But
we don't know what the number is".
The United States and other nations pay into a multilateral
fund to help pay for the transition to more benign chemicals.
McMurray said that until the costs of the shift away from
HCFCs was clear, Washington would not pay more into the fund
than it does already. Whether that suits Beijing is another
matter.
"We'd have to make the calculations as to what the total
number is and have them say yay or nay ... we're trying to put
together a small group of countries to see if there's a way to
find a resolution this week and that will include us and China
at the very least."
Asked whether China might walk away from any proposed deal,
McMurray replied: "I think the real question is whether we can
do it in five days, whether we can make the compromises
necessary to finish it by Friday."
Part of the difficulty is that no one knows how much the
transition would cost, she said.
"We're taking a bit of a leap to say we want this to
happen. We're pushing for a result and then we're going to kind
of bring the money along to meet it later ... The question will
be whether there's enough data for everybody to jump together,
to hold their nose and jump, if you will," she said.
If nations do not agree on a deal this week the next chance
will not come until signatories to the 1987 Montreal pact hold
a formal meeting in Doha in November 2008.
"We have a spirit of goodwill, we are looking back on 20
years of working together, and we'd like to take that spirit
and see if we can push to the next level," said McMurray.
