06 Dec 2005 Kyoto Protocol Declared ‘Dead’

CNSNews.com reports Kyoto is dead, though Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace disagree:

“Kyoto is alive and well, thank you very much,” said Catherine Pearce, the international climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth International.”These kinds of comments just come from the United States actually and it’s driven by the White House who actually wants to see this process die,” Pearce told Cybercast News Service.

“That is what [President George] Bush is here to do in Montreal. It’s to completely kill any discussions going forward,” Pearce said.

“The only way we are going to fight climate change is through legally binding targets for industrialized nations. If we don’t do this, we are going to lose our planet and our livelihoods and our economy to climate change,” she added.

Asked about the inability of Canada and many other industrialized nations to lower their emissions, Pearce admitted it was difficult to meet the protocol’s requirements. “Yeah, sure Canada has a massive challenge on its hands to reduce emissions. I am not saying it’s particularly easy,” she said.

Pearce dismissed Prime Minister Blair’s recent negative comments on Kyoto as “inconsistent and incoherent.”

A spokeswoman for Greenpeace also denied the Kyoto Protocol was in any trouble.

“Kyoto is alive and kicking. This conference is proof of that,” said Kaisa Kosonen, the energy campaigner for the European-based Nordic division of Greenpeace.

“I still have high hopes,” Kosonen added, while warning that the U.S. was playing a destructive role at the conference.

“The U.S. has done its best to sabotage everything. [But] you have to differentiate the Bush administration from the United States,” she said, noting the many U.S.-based groups in attendance critical of the Bush administration’s climate policies.

Looks dead to me.