By Martin Banks - 15th June 2009
It's clear that many of the government officials negotiating in Bonn were in their own little bubble
Martin Kaiser
Environmental groups have said that major climate change talks in Bonn, which ended on Friday, resulted in "no significant progress".
The two-week UN talks in the German city heard that the outlined emissions cuts by developed nations of 25 to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 have become vital for a deal due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.
But many developed nations led by the United States say the number is out of reach.
President Barack Obama wants to cut US emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020, a 14 per cent cut from 2007 levels, and by 80 per cent below by 2050.Japan set a 2020 target this week of just 8 per cent below 1990 levels.
Responding to the outcome of the Bonn talks, Greenpeace international climate policy director Martin Kaiser said, "It's clear that many of the government officials negotiating in Bonn were in their own little bubble, impervious to both public concern and climate science.
"The climate is changing now; no more evidence is needed to alert us to the devastating consequences of continued political inaction. Heads of state must immediately intervene and break the deadlock.
"They must take personal responsibility for getting the negotiations back on track to deliver a climate saving deal in Copenhagen at the end of this year," he said.
"At the July G8 meeting they must provide the leadership the climate crisis demands and commit to serious, binding cuts in emissions and financing for the developing world."
"After two weeks of climate talks in Bonn, governments appear to be simply gathering a bag of bargaining chips aimed at one long night of negotiations at the very end of the Copenhagen summit in December.
"This kind of political brinkmanship is placing the planet in peril. So far there has been little – if any - attempt at finding any kind of common ground."
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