Obama brings US in from the cold: In a landmark speech, the next president pledges to revive Kyoto Protocol and end American isolationism over climate change.

By Leonard Doyle in Washington and Michael McCarthy
Thursday, 20 November 2008, The Independent of London

Michael McCarthy: Finally, we can dare to hope.

Prospects for success in the world’s struggle to combat global warming have been transformed at a stroke after US President-elect Barack Obama made it clear that America would play its full part in renewing the Kyoto Protocol climate-change treaty.

The Bush withdrawal set back the international effort by nearly a decade – years in which it became increasingly clear that the warming of the atmosphere being caused by greenhouse gas emissions was proceeding much faster than UN scientists thought it would.

Although Mr Bush and the oilman-caucus in his government justified their Kyoto withdrawal by casting doubt on whether climate change was happening, or was caused by human actions, by last year the scientific consensus on both propositions was so great that Bush aides had to reluctantly accept both were true. But Mr Bush’s diplomatic stance hardly changed.

In contrast, the President-elect’s remarks, in a video address to a global warming summit in California attended by US governors and representatives from other nations, instantly injected a new mood of optimism among negotiators preparing for the conference at which Kyoto will be renewed and extended, due to take place in Copenhagen in December 2009.

***

“This is an incredibly welcome statement about the need not to delay, and it will send a very positive message around the world, especially to the developing countries,” said a British source involved with negotiations.

***

The Obama message was clearly timed to influence the interim negotiating meeting being held in Poznan, Poland, next month, which Mr Obama reminded his audience he could not attend, “because the United States has only one president at a time”. Mr Bush remains president until the Obama inauguration on 20 January.

But if he will not be present in Poland personally, his latest pronouncement made it clear he will be very much there in spirit. “Once I take office, you can be sure that the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations, and help lead the world toward a new era of global co-operation on climate change,” he said. And he went on to make the key pledge that the US would once again accept targets to reduce its own emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, which – alongside China’s – are the highest in the world.

“We will establish strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them by an additional 80 percent by 2050,” he said. Mr Obama had made his support for action clear as a presidential candidate, but he has now spelled out new yearly targets. It signals that the US is at last coming in from the cold – and that is the essential prerequisite for success at Copenhagen, which will try to map out a way for the world to hold global temperature rises to two degrees celsius above the pre-industrial level – regarded as the maximum the earth and its human communities can safely sustain.

***

The trick will be to balance the burden-sharing – in essence, to get the US and China to act together, when each has been concerned about the other trying to get a free ride. It has to be the US that takes the lead and Mr Obama recognised that explicitly. “My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process,” he said.

His words were instantly applauded as “fantastic” by California’s Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a leading force for environmental changes in the face of White House obstinacy.

***

“These were inspirational words from Obama,” said Frank O’Donnell of Clean Air Watch. “He basically said that, even though the world economy is less than healthy, global warming remains an absolutely top priority. It means the United States is now ready to take on a leadership role in combating climate change.”

Behind Mr Obama’s words is the big idea that energy-hogging is at the root of US economic problems at home and security problems abroad. America’s gluttonous oil consumption is unsustainable, damaging the environment and making the country dependent on unstable parts of the world for its energy which, in the end, has become a threat to its national security.

Mr Obama says he is committed to pumping $150bn into transforming the economy to cut oil consumption dramatically and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He wants to start with US car manufacturers – which already need rescuing – to ensure they make hybrid or petrol-sipping cars.

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At www.SustainabiliTank.info we believe that only a bi-national agreement between the US and China can remove the brakes on the multi-lateral negotiations.

So, the Way to a Copenhagen I resolution goes via a Washington-Beijing agreement that was not possible under the Bush/Cheney government by oilmen-caucus and their intentional undermining of any alternative future that would be less dependent on oil.

Poznan happens at the wrong time and in the wrong EU Member State, but nevertheless, it will become the stage where many participants will have now the courage to speak up, as they did not do in the last eight years. We do not expect a Paula Dobriasnsky change of heart, and we predict a sorry sight for the exit of an US Administration that left the world in shambles. But the participants will leave with the feeling that Hope Is On The Horizon. The Independent has just given voice to it.

 From:       Elizabeth.Migongo-Bake at unep.org
Subject:  The 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry 23rd-29th August 2009, Nairobi, Kenya
Date:       November 20, 2008

2nd World Congress of Agroforestry – 3rd Announcement

 http://www.worldagroforestry.org/wca2009

Theme: “Agroforestry - The Future of Global Land Use”

The Congress will assess opportunities to leverage scientific agroforestry in promoting sustainable land use worldwide.
It will also serve as a forum for agroforestry researchers, educators, practitioners and policy makers from around the world to:

-share new research findings, lessons, experiences, and ideas that will help influence decisions that impact on livelihoods and the global environment

-explore new opportunities and strengthen existing partnerships in agroforestry research, education, training, and development

-form new networks and communities of practice, and nurture old ones.

enquiries:  WCA2009 at cgiar.org

 The EU Suffers From Not Having A Longer Term President - The Incoming First Half of 2009 Czech Presidency Starts Out With A Flap As Sarkozy And Blair Opt For Continuity In Dealing With The Global Financial Crisis. In Any Case, Czech President Vaclav Klaus Has Small Minority Views in Europe - He Even Does Not Believe In Human Caused Global Warming. Clouds Over The Czech Presidency.

France wants post-EU presidency financial summit.
PHILIPPA RUNNER, November 19, 2008,EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS

France has unveiled plans for a post-French EU presidency financial summit, despite the Czech Republic’s sensitivity over its upcoming chairmanship of the EU.

The Elysee Palace on Tuesday (18 November) formally announced an “international summit” to be held in Paris on 8 January, entitled “New World: Values, Development and Regulation,” continuing France’s ambition to create a “new model” for capitalism in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Mr Sarkozy - known for having a high-octane personality, is to chair another major international meeting.  The meeting is to bring together international leaders as well as intellectuals such as economist Joseph Stiglitz and philosopher Francis Fukuyama and will be co-chaired by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former British PM Tony Blair.

The move comes after a G20 summit in Washington last weekend fell short of EU hopes to tighten global financial regulation.

The new Paris meeting is the latest in a long line of high-powered events organised by France since it took over the EU helm in July. An EU presidency normally hosts two EU summits, but Mr Sarkozy has already added one extraordinary Georgia war summit, one special financial crisis summit, a eurozone summit and a G4 financial summit.

***

French officials in October proposed that the eurozone should form an “economic government” led by Mr Sarkozy after the French EU presidency expires in December in order to maintain the “impetus, the energy” of the Elysee Palace’s efforts.

Mr Sarkozy and Mr Blair have also been floated as candidates for the Lisbon treaty-envisaged job of permanent EU president.

But the Czech Republic has resented any suggestions that a small, new EU state cannot lead the bloc in times of crisis.

Prague has also rejected MEPs’ accusations that it will be a lame duck presidency because it is split over ratification of the Lisbon treaty and because the ruling ODS party suffered defeats in local elections last month.

“Nobody can take the presidency away from the Czech Republic,” Czech deputy prime minister Alexandr Vondra said in October on the eurozone government idea.

Prague also plans to hold two extraordinary summits during its EU chairmanship, one on the Eastern Partnership of deeper integration with the EU’s post-Soviet neighbours and one to greet new US President Barack Obama.

French public policies minister Eric Besson toned down the language of the French president’s original statement on the 8 January event when talking to the Associated Press on Tuesday.

The meeting will be a “conference” not a summit, he said. “It’s not an operational and decision-making colloquium.”

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Czech President, Vaclav Klaus came to the US in 2008 to back President Bush on his avoidance of dealing with climate change. He Spoke at that contrived Heartland Institute’s Anti-action New York City week. He even had the audacity to write to US Congress opposing Al Gore’s position on the issues please see:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54803

and our own

Vaclav Klaus, President of The Czech Republic, Sets The Timing For The Heartland Institute’s New York Climate Change Conference, He May Yet Become, Personally, A Serious Impediment On The Road To Copenhagen.

Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on March 9th, 2008
by Pincas Jawetz ( PJ at SustainabiliTank.com)

What sort of a European meeting with President Obama does President Klaus think he wants to chair?

We hope that this brewing flap can open the eyes of Europe that time has come for a real EU Presidency.

And The Czech Republic deserves every little bit of the contraversary it has created:

“The EU cannot punish a country for having pluralist opinions” says the following Opinion column - but this is not the point - the point is that a minority of the EU should not be allowed to speak for the Union - and Vaclav Klaus is just the extreme example. We listened to him in New York and we know that he is a very fringe point of view, President of a complicated EU Member State - in no way President of the EU.

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[Comment] Prague is as capable as any capital of taking over EU helm
MAREK NEUMAN, The EUobserver, November 19, 2008

COMMENT - After a Hallowe’en working lunch, French president Sarkozy assured his Czech counterpart, prime minister Topolanek, that France in no way intends to sabotage the Czech Republic’s EU Presidency, which the country assumes on 1 January, 2009.

Despite this, recent weeks have witnessed a large amount of analysis and commentary by international media dwelling upon the question of whether the Czech Republic is a suitable country to lead the EU in times of crisis or whether an experienced administration, such as the French one, would not be a better option.


The EU cannot punish a country for having pluralist opinions.

Although the prospects of the Czech Republic being stripped of its presidency are at the very least hypothetical, the numerous comments certainly deserve further thought, since any such activity would clearly break with the long-established traditions governing the union.

Moreover, just by invoking this debate, are we not already deliberating about the possibility of creating a European Union of two classes?

***

There have been several arguments put forward by commentators as to why the Czech Republic might not be a suitable president of the EU for the upcoming six months, but the Czech Republic’s demography has been the overriding issue for a variety of pundits.

It is true that the country, with its population of roughly 10 million, is not one of the largest states, but neither does it belong into the group of European micro-states. However, as a closer look into the history of the rotating EU presidency shows that the size of a country has never been an issue for consideration until now.

Countries such as Belgium or Luxembourg have periodically held the EU chairmanship and have performed just as well - or just as badly - as any of the major European powers in terms of efficiency. Moreover, Slovenia, the first new EU member state to hold EU Presidency, which held the function at the beginning of this year, certainly did not let its demographic size be an obstacle. Indeed, Ljubljana handed over the baton to France largely to wide acclaim from the Brussels community.

In fact, it turns out that some of the major integrative steps in European integration have been advanced while these small countries have been at the helm, most notably the Maastricht Treaty under the leadership of Luxembourg.

Commentators have also claimed that the Czech Republic lacks the experience to lead the union through the financial crisis.

It is important to realize that the Presidency is to a large extent a representative function, which the respective country uses to move certain points up or down on the agenda. By no means does the existence of the EU Presidency imply that decisions will not be brought about collectively. Interestingly, thus far, the Czech Republic has been surprisingly lightly hit by the financial crisis and therefore might even have something to teach in terms of economic expertise to even the largest EU members.

Domestic difficulties

It is true that the Czech Republic is currently going through a bit of internal political turmoil and the current government is somewhat less than stable. However, by now, the main policy goals of the upcoming EU presidency are set and one can expect these to be followed up by whatever political party is in power during the first six months of 2009, since the proposed agenda goes beyond partisan issues.

Additionally, there are other EU members who are also experiencing domestic difficulties, not least of all Belgium, but it is questionable whether the ability of these countries to lead the EU would be disputed if it were their turn.

Finally, the international peanut gallery have repeatedly carped about the growing euro-scepticism among some parts of the Czech political elite.

While it is true that the Czech president, who refuses even to fly the European flag at Prague Castle, is a hardened eurosceptic, this has no bearing on the country’s ability to effectively perform its tasks while holding the EU presidency, since these would be performed by the rest of the government, not the head of state.

But even in the most extreme scenario, such as having a euro-sceptic party or coalition in power, the scheduled country still could not be denied its turn at bat. The EU cannot punish a country for having pluralist opinions if it wants to uphold the image of a democratic entity.

Nevertheless, this most extreme scenario is hardly likely to materialise in the Czech Republic in the next six months, since both major political parties are strongly in favour of further European integration and have proven to be so for the last five years of the country’s membership.

How long must a member state wait to prove its loyalty to the European “idea” before it can enjoy all rights that come from membership? In a community of pluralist, democratic states, the personal beliefs of one politician cannot be a litmus test for allowing a country to assume the presidency.

It is crucial to realize what is the true essence of the EU presidency. The bearer of the chairmanship essentially just outlines the overall agenda for the union for the next six months. Naturally, with the world currently fighting the most severe economic crisis in a century, no one needs to be worried that this issue would not figure high on the agenda of the next presidency term, whatever the country actually in “power.”

When the European Union’s big-bang enlargement process was completed in 2007, the European Union acknowledged that the individual countries were not only fulfilling the legal requirements of membership - the Copenhagen criteria, but were also able to perform all tasks of membership - the rotating EU presidency included. The right to hold the EU presidency is the executive zenith of the numerous duties and obligations that come with EU membership.

Were the Czech Republic indeed stripped of its treaty-based right, the European Union would both internally and externally be sending the message of a hierarchy of important and less important countries.

Not that such a scenario is remotely likely, but the very discussion that is currently occurring is already an acknowledgment of this two-tiered Europe.

Objectively, the Czech Republic is as qualified to lead the European Union from 1 January 2009 as any other EU member.

Marek Neuman is a researcher at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

 At www.SustainabiliTank.info we keep saying this since the beginning of the year - December 2008 there will still be the Paula Dobriansky UN delegation and as such nothing will change and the meeting is a deliberate waste with UN personnel just creating travel mileage CO2 and hot air. That was the case in Bali, and this will be the case in Poznan.

The solution was easy - postpone Poznan Meeting to April 2009 so some start of a decision becomes possible and the needed input for Copenhagen in December 2009 becomes feasible.

The UN Secretary-general is touting the Copenhagen Roadway that starts with Poznan in order to come up with a Kyoto II. We heard from Danish Prime Minister that if there is no Kyoto II there will be a better Copenhagen I, but we told him that what he will get, because of the timing, rather a Poznan II. Now Yvo de Boer, head of the UNFCCC office in Bonn, plainly agrees with our estimate when he realizes in public that the US has only one President at a time - and he well knows that there is no climate change business with US President N0. 43, and before Obama takes over from Bush, there will not be any negotiations. (period.!)

Oh! yes! UNSG Ban Ki-moon will take the paper we just posted, that he somehow thought to bring to the attention of the G-20 in Washington DC at their November 14th meeting - and read it at the opening of the COP-14 of the UNFCCC on December 1 in Poznan. He will then turn around smiling and say that the world has heard how important the subject is.

AND THAT WILL BE IT - and Yvo de Boer just declared that he understands that - that will be it!

Strangely, last night at an event for the Pacific Island States, a person representing a UN body, To be fair to him I do not divulge which important UN affiliate he represents, he told me that Obama will go to Poznan not as President-elect but as Senator (you know, like Al Gore, Timothy Wirth, and Bob Kerry went to  Rio in 1992.) I just did not have the heart to tell the gentleman that next week Obama will not be a Senator anymore. He leaves the Senate so someone else can be appointed and gain in seniority - this is another right and easily predictable thing we know. This story just shows how deep the UN lives in the unreality of its comfortable cocoon.

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OSLO (Reuters) November 17, 2008 - President-elect Barack Obama will not attend United Nations talks in Poland next month working on a new treaty for fighting global warming, as per the the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat.

“There is not going to be an Obama delegation in Poznan,” Yvo de Boer, head of the Secretariat, told a news conference in Germany that was also shown on the Internet. The 190-nation talks will be held from December 1-12 in the Polish city of Poznan.

“There is one president at a time,” he said. Obama will take over from President George W. Bush on January 20, 2009.”

After Obama won the presidency last month, de Boer expressed hopes that Obama might attend the Poznan meeting, which is due to work on details of a new climate treaty.

A new pact to succeed the existing Kyoto Protocol is meant to be in place by the end of 2009. De Boer said that the U.S. delegation in Poznan would liaise closely with Obama’s team.

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We believe that there will be an Obama observer at Poznan, but he will have a clear mandate to keep away from the negotiations. Obama does not want to become a co-owner of a sinking ship. He will in due time take the reins in his hands and wants to have free hands to do so. No last minute bail-out please! A bailout that leaves him holding an empty bag? No thanks.

If Yvo de Boer is afraid to recognize the above, and still wants to convey that he is playing in tune with Obama - this is another case of UN misleading the innocents. The Poznan party is on - the decision making process is off!

The Drylands, Deserts, and Desertification - 2008 Conference. December 14-17, 2008, Sede Boqer Campus, The Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Israel.

www.desertification.co.il

THE PROGRAM As Available on November 18, 2008. There might be still Changes and Additions, as well -  further Poster Sessions.

Download this schedule: detailed_program_sessions_1611_publish.doc

Please note that the list of presentations is still not final.