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Thursday, 23 November, 2000, 15:44 GMT
Climate talks near deadlock
![]() Environmentalists are worried that the talks will end in failure
By BBC News Online's environment correspondent Alex Kirby in The Hague
The climate talks here are still close to deadlock despite earlier suggestions that a deal could be on the cards.
The conference will resume to discuss it at 2300 GMT. It is clear that, despite some compromise, there is still no agreement on several outstanding issues, and the gulf yawns wide. Mr Pronk said of his paper: "There will be pain, a lot of pain." He said it would have to be shared out evenly. But there is little time left before the conference's scheduled end on Friday. It now seems quite possible that it will run on into Saturday. US-EU clash Last night Mr Pronk said everyone was showing a willingness to reach a deal, but this did not mean there would be one.
The EU says at least half of all cuts should be made domestically. But the US and its allies are arguing that they should be allowed to make unlimited use of the protocol's provisions for counting reductions in other countries' emissions towards their own targets. This, the EU says, means the US would not in fact have to cut its own emissions at all. Green critics There is also criticism of both camps by many environmental groups for the vagueness of their proposals to provide developing countries with money to tackle climate change.
Anna Aurelio, of the US Public Interest Research Group, said: "The US is proposing to take credit for doing nothing. "Unless it commits itself to a treaty that will mean real emissions reductions, it will be a turkey." Scientists, meanwhile, continue to demand rapid action. Today's problem The head of the UN Environment Programme, Dr Klaus Toepfer, told journalists: "Climate change is not a prognosis for the future. It is happening now."
He said: "There is no doubt we humans are partially involved in climate change. We'll see major changes over the next century. "The basic message is that we can change our climate - it's affecting the very foundations of sustainability. "Policymakers must recognise the long timescales involved. "We have found from modelling that if you double the atmosphere's carbon dioxide (CO2) content over 70 years ... the sea level continues to rise not for 10 more years, not for 100 years, but for the next 1,000 years." Scientists regard a possible doubling of atmospheric CO2 by 2070 as entirely possible on present trends.
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