United Nations negotiators said yesterday they were disappointed with a US plan for limited action on global warming because it would not do enough to avert a potential climate disaster. Officials at a UN-sponsored global warming conference in Bonn, who began working on the the details of forging a compromise before a December meeting in Kyoto, Japan, also said the US was failing to live up to past commitments.
In a speech on Wednesday, President Clinton set out the US intention to reduce its output of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012. But he admitted it would not meet its standing commitment to do so by 2000.
Mr Clinton's speech was the final piece in the puzzle, and now all major industrialised nations' plans are on the table. But none of the negotiators here from more than 150 countries believes Mr Clinton's was the last word on the subject.
EU member-states, which have called for 15 per cent reductions by 2010, sharply criticised the US plan, while Japanese negotiators, who have called for 5 per cent cuts, welcomed it cautiously as a basis for further talks.
Mr Bakary Kante, a delegate from Senegal, said: "The African group is disappointed [with Mr Clinton's stand]. We were expecting something more. But the US must have its reasons."
While it is too early to say where the centre of gravity might be in the negotiations, "it is close to the Japanese position", Mr Kante said. But that would be a disappointment to developing countries, which are seeking reductions of about 15 per cent, in line with the EU.
Mr Raul Estrada-Oyuela, an Argentine diplomat who is chairman of the current stage of treaty negotiations, said he was baffled by the US plan. He said he has often been disappointed by US intransigence on environmental issues.
The US offer "is a very modest one", Mr Estrada said. "I don't understand all negotiating techniques, but when a head of state makes a statement like that it seems very little flexibility remains."
The German Environment Minister, Ms Angela Merkel, said hard negotiations lay ahead and that Germany would try to persuade Washington to establish a more ambitious target.
"It is a useful step to see that the world's largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions has now finally put its negotiating position on the table," she said. "But the content of the US suggestions are disappointing and insufficient."
Britain's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, said the plan did not go far enough and urged the global community to act as one when it holds a climate conference in Japan this December.
Environmentalists say anything less than 15 per cent cuts would be a recipe for disaster, and that Mr Clinton has raised the stakes in the game.
Now only pressure from other heads of state, such as the German Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, or the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, will bring the US closer to the EU line, Mr Bill Hare of Greenpeace said.
In trying to bridge the gap between environmentalists and industry, Mr Clinton has pleased neither. "We think the EU position is the moderate middle ground," said Mr Andrew Kerr of the World-Wide Fund for Nature.
The current round of talks in Bonn is likely to end on October 31st without a clear resolution of the legally binding targets developed countries are expected to agree in Kyoto.
Even in Kyoto, the negotiations are likely to go down to the deadline.