Yesterday I was a bit pessimistic that any real progress would be made at the G8 this week. I’ll admit that today the news out of Germany is just a little brighter.
While a binding agreement is still not in the offing, reports are that world leaders – including Dubya – agree, in theory at least, to a “significant reduction” in greenhouse gas emissions over the next half century. The specific target that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has in mind is a 50% cut in carbon emissions from 1990 levels by 2050. Thus far it appears as if everyone can at least nod their head yes to the idea, though no formal or binding agreement will happen anytime soon.
It seems as if George Bush, perhaps kicking and screaming all the way, is resigned to the fact that the United States must play a leading role in dealing with climate change in concert with the international community (including China and India) represented by the United Nations.
The general agreements in principal forged this week paves the way for continued talks toward hammering out a post-Kyoto agreement at a UN meeting in Bali this December.
We’ll take it a step at a time and hope for the best!