Europe and US combine in talks on climate change

Date: 13/02/03

By Karen Carstens

EU CLIMATE change experts expressed satisfaction this week after an encouraging response from US agencies during bilateral strategy talks in Washington.

Anver Ghazi, head of the global change unit of the European Commission's research directorate, and Harlan Watson, the US senior climate negotiator, led the delegations. The two sides agreed on technical areas for future research. They aim to develop a global observation system to monitor atmospheric levels of carbon, a greenhouse gas; conduct studies on the influence of aerosols on clouds, climate and the water cycle; and develop standards for hydrogen energy technologies.

"What I found very surprising was the sheer number of [US] agencies involved," said one EU official who participated in the two-day talks. "It was a very encouraging sign that they want to collaborate."

The US delegation included representatives from the White House science and technology policy office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, National Science Foundation and the US Agency for International Development.

As well as the Commission's research directorate, the EU group also included climate experts from member states.

"There's a lot of research that needs to be done," the EU official said, emphasising that the focus was on "gaps of knowledge and research" not on divergent views on the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which the US has refused to ratify.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace and the Worldwide Fund for Nature have, in a joint letter, urged EU leaders to put more pressure on Russia to ratify the protocol to allow it to come into force.