Rostock, Germany – President Bush presented himself Wednesday as caught in the middle of the international climate debate, fending off allies’ calls for specific steps to reverse global warming while encouraging major developing nations to join eventual climate negotiations.
The dispute over how to wrestle with the changing climate is emerging as a focal point of the annual Group of Eight summit that began Wednesday night in Heiligendamm, a seaside resort village 14 miles northwest of here on the Baltic Sea. The gathering has drawn tens of thousands of protesters to this northeastern corner of Germany.
White House officials predicted Wednesday that Bush would emerge from the three-day meetings with an agreement to conduct formal negotiations to establish medium- and long- range targets, reaching out more than 40 years, for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Critics of the president’s position inside and outside of the summit have argued that voluntary targets are not enough and fixed limits are needed.
Sitting on the grounds of the castle-like Kempinski Grand Hotel that is the summit’s center, Bush told reporters that “the United States can serve as a bridge between some nations who believe that now is the time to come up with a set goal … and those who are reluctant to participate in the dialogue.”
“We all can make major strides and yet there won’t be a reduction, until China and India are participants,” Bush said.
His comment reflected the view Bush shares with other critics of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol: that its limits on greenhouse gas emissions hampered the most economically advanced nations while giving potential economic giants of the developing world a pass.
Many scientists believe that greenhouse gases, chief among them carbon dioxide given off when fossil fuels are burned, are responsible for an increase in global temperatures.
Bush has objected to the central element of a plan put forward by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the summit host, and supported by most European leaders. Under it, participating nations would reduce their emissions by the year 2050 to half of what they were in 1990, with the goal of limiting the increase in global temperatures no more than 3.6 degrees.
Merkel has built the summit around poverty, particularly in Africa, and climate change.
Speaking during a photo session after lunch with Bush, Merkel hinted at the ongoing disagreement with the president, saying that the two had had “a very good debate” and “there are a few areas here and there” on which they need to continue to work.
Merkel’s proposal aims to carry the nations most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions beyond the Kyoto agreement, which expires in 2012. The United States, under the Clinton and Bush administrations, never ratified the pact.
Bush proposed new negotiations a week ago and has called for greater reliance on technology to reduce the emissions while avoiding specific, internationally mandated restrictions.
That position has drawn protest from environmental organizations.
Bush found something of an ally in Russia.
Dmitri Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a conference call with reporters that the Russians found Bush’s proposal putting off specific targets “very pragmatic and interesting.”
Earlier in the day, Bush tried to stop a steep slide in relations with Putin by saying Russia is not a menace to Europe despite a threat to aim missiles at the West.
“Russia is not going to attack Europe,” the president said, brushing off Putin’s warning that he would reposition Russian rockets in retaliation for an American-devised missile shield to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic.
“Russia is not an enemy,” Bush emphasized. “There needs to be no military response because we’re not at war with Russia.”
Peskov agreed that there is still room for dialog between the former Cold War rivals. He said open hostility is part of a constructive relationship, even as he reiterated disagreements with U.S. views of Russian democracy and dissatisfaction with explanations about the missile shield.
