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Barroso to Rice: action on climate change is key to healing trans-Atlantic rift

Economies will gain, says new Commission plan out today

Brussels, 9 February 2005: President Barroso must challenge Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to say what the US will do to help fight climate change, says Friends of the Earth, ahead of a meeting between the two leaders later today. EU-US tensions cannot hope to heal, the group warns, until America also joins the fight against rising world temperatures. Climate change may begin to have irreversible catastrophic effects in less than a decade [1].

The meeting coincides with the Commission launching a new climate strategy, which will be discussed by EU government next months. Today's report says that the expected huge economic impacts of climate change will by far outweigh the costs of fighting it. The strategy also calls for a "broadening of international participation", which includes the United States.

Yesterday in Paris, in her first major speech since taking office, Ms Rice failed to mention the greatest environmental threat facing the planet. The Commission has already told Friends of the Earth that climate change will be on the agenda when US President Bush visits Brussels on 22 February.

Friends of the Earth Climate Campaigner Jan Kowalzig said:

"The Commission's new strategy should be acted on straight away. The plan says that investing in emission cuts today means paying less for climate disaster tomorrow. This includes the United States. In today's meeting, it's vital that Mr Barroso hammers home this message to the Americans."

Friends of the Earth believes it is high time the United States begin to take action on climate change. The United States' share in world population is only 4%, yet they emit more than 20% of total greenhouse gases. The US so far has refused to take any serious action to cut their emissions, and in 2001 rejected the Kyoto Protocol that is due to enter into force on 16 February. US emissions have risen by 14% since 1990.

Contact

Jan Kowalzig, Friends of the Earth Europe Climate Campaigner, +32-2-542 61 02

Notes

[1] The proposed strategy "Winning the Battle against Global Climate Change" will be published today at Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas' press conference today.

[2] Last week, 200 of the world's leading climate scientists met at Tony Blair's request in Exeter, UK, to issue the most urgent warning to date that dangerous climate change is taking place, and that time is running out. The conference took place only shortly after the Oxford University published the results of the biggest-ever study of climate change, reporting that climate change could prove to be twice as catastrophic as indicated in previous worst case scenarios, killing threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people and triggering an unprecedented economic, social and environmental disaster.

Friends of the Earth Europe campaigns for sustainable and fair societies and for the protection of the environment,
unites more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups
and is part of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International.

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