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World clinches climate deal, without US
( 2001-07-23 17:39 ) (7 )

The world's environment ministers clinched a historic last-minute deal in Germany on Monday that should force industrial powers to cut emissions of the industrial greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

An all-night marathon right on deadline secured agreement in Bonn crucially from Japan, as well as Canada, Russia and others, for a compromise agreement promoted by the European Union that should allow the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to come into force.

Amid groggy smiles and genuine relief, there was annoyance, however, that President Bush had already rejected any deal, saying the world's biggest polluter could not afford emissions cuts that would hurt its economy.

``It's a brilliant day for the environment,'' British Environment Minister Michael Meacher told Reuters.

``It's a huge leap to have achieved a result on this very complex international negotiation. It's a huge relief.''

Belgian Energy Minister Olivier Deleuze, who led the European Union's negotiating effort, criticized the United States for staying out of the deal but said the final compromise, which included substantial European concessions to Japan in particular, was better than nothing.

``It shows that George Bush is totally isolated in the climate debate,'' said Greenpeace climate activist Bill Hare.

``It is the long-awaited second step in the implementation of the Kyoto protocol. We are calling on Japan to ratify it now.''

Applause rang out in the room where ministers had bargained throughout the night as the deal was struck.

BACK FROM THE BRINK

Ministers from 185 countries meeting at the United Nations -sponsored talks had feared that a second failure, following the collapse of a summit at The Hague in November, could have killed off the Kyoto accord.

That, environmental campaigners said, would have meant dangerous delay in slowing down the greenhouse effect, in which polluting gases are believed to be trapping the sun's heat on Earth, melting polar ice, raising sea levels and creating more extremes of weather.

``We have finalized the rescue operation. We have rescued the Kyoto protocol. It is a major achievement because we live with this for many years to come,'' EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom told Reuters.

Some of the countries present might yet reject the plan at a plenary session due to start at 0900 GMT. But what was vital was that the key industrial powers had settled their differences.

``So long as we get success in the plenary in the next hour we have delivered probably the most comprehensive and difficult agreement in human history,'' an elated New Zealand delegation chief Peter Hodgson told reporters.

A spokesman for Deleuze said Japan had secured a special exemption to overcome its hesitations about mechanisms for legally enforcing the protocol. Japan had demanded a softer approach on compliance mechanisms than the European Union.

Other European officials said the concession was limited.

Tokyo's consent has been crucial to bringing the accord into force since Bush rejected the Kyoto accord in March.

Japan, Canada, Russia and others had already won concessions from the EU on counting carbon-absorbing forests toward their targets for cutting emissions.

That will mean the global cut in emissions is only about a third of the original goal of reducing greenhouse gas production by the 30-odd most industrial nations. The target is to cut emissions to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.