Bali Climate Conference Roundup, Day 8

For those of you following the events out of Bali, today's news won't surprise: The United States, Japan, and Canada have lined up against the UN's four-page draft proposal, which is being called a "non-paper."

They're holding out for binding targets for developing nations -- not just for them -- and they're none too happy with the inclusion of specific emissions reduction goals before the negotiations even begin. The EU, on the other hand, says the "non-paper" doesn't go far enough. Greenwire has the news.

The draft document calls for industrialized economies to reduce carbon emissions by 25 to 40 percent below their 1990 levels by 2020. It also calls for global emissions to be slashed 50% below 2000 levels by 2050.

The numbers are unlikely to make it into the final Bali road map, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer told the AP. He seems to think that the discussion over mandatory cuts is too premature at this stage:

As for mandatory caps, de Boer said, ''I really hope that that is a discussion that will be taken up toward the end of that two years rather than here.''

The US delegation said that it will come up with its own targets by mid-2008 -- through its own US-led talks of the 17 "major economies" -- not in Bali.

In other news, John Kerry got his day in the Bali sun.

And for the first time in the history of the annual UNFCCC gathering, finance ministers are meeting on the sidelines. Thirty-seven of them (or their stand-ins) showed up to discuss the economic impacts of climate change policy.

In his first foray on the world stage, Kevin Rudd, Australia's new prime minister and climate savior, is coming to Bali town.

And the CEOs of 13 major automakers pledged support for the climate talks today, in a letter published in the Financial Times.

Meanwhile, UNFCCC Executive Secretary de Boer had some strong words in his daily update on the need for technology transfer to developing nations:

"Technology must be at the heart of the future response to climate change. Environmentally sound technologies and sustainable development approaches need to help development countries leap frog the carbon intensive stage of economic development. We cannot afford to let industrialized countries' climate unfriendly growth become the global norm."

More from de Boer here:

And this just in: Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has seized the opportunity of the US Bali debacle to reassert his own plans for climate leadership. Via press release:

“The post-Kyoto climate negotiations that have kicked off in Bali offer an important opportunity for America to re-engage with the rest of the world in taking on one of the greatest challenges of this generation. But we must start by showing the world that we are serious about tackling the climate crisis here at home, which is why I’ve put forth a bold energy plan that would reduce our carbon emissions 80% by 2050. As President, I will also personally reach out to the leaders of the biggest carbon emitting nations and ask them to join America in creating a new Global Energy Forum that can continue the work begun in Bali and lay the foundation for the next generation of climate protocols."

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