The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001.  Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date.  This site is not updated so external links may no longer function.  Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.

Frank E. Loy Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs and Head of the U.S. Delegation Closing Statement at Fifth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Bonn, Germany, November 4, 1999

(As Prepared for Delivery)

Our goal here in Bonn was to achieve steady progress toward completing the work begun by our nations two years ago in Kyoto -- to continue building a truly global, cost-effective agreement that protects future generations from the grave risks of global warming.

In the view of the United States, this Conference has met that goal. We have made significant progress across the full spectrum of substantive issues, from emissions trading to sinks to compliance. We have seen continued forward momentum on developing country efforts. And, perhaps most critically, we have resolved to redouble our efforts between now and next year's Conference in The Hague. In short, we have charted a course for the critical year ahead, and have together demonstrated the kind of political will necessary to resolve the major issues before us.

The Kyoto Protocol provides a blueprint for global efforts to meet this profound global challenge. Last year in Buenos Aires, the Parties committed to a two-year action plan to turn the broad concepts of Kyoto into working realities. Here, we began the hard substantive job of actually assembling the very nuts and bolts. We leave Bonn with a mandate to negotiate text that will refine these elements and weave them into an environmentally strong and economically sound agreement. This is absolutely critical. Without these buildings blocks, we can not get from Kyoto to a fully operational, ratifiable Kyoto treaty.

While progress was made on all the substantive issues before this Conference, the United States is particularly gratified by the growing recognition that the issue of cost-effectiveness must be squarely addressed. Parties that previously were unfamiliar with emissions trading, or dismissed it outright, are coming to understand how it can ensure that we achieve the most environmental gain for every dollar, euro, or yen invested.

What's more, for first time, the broad outlines of an effective international emissions trading system have begun to take shape. There is agreement on what the essential elements must be -- strong systems for monitoring and reporting emissions; a common unit for emissions trades; an airtight global accounting system; full private sector participation; and, perhaps most critically, a strong, effective system to ensure compliance.

Over the coming year, we must move toward full agreement on the shape each of these components will take. And we must reject efforts to impose artificial caps on this emerging trading system. We can only mobilize the capital, ingenuity, and entrepreneurial drive needed to meet our ambitious targets by putting the power of the marketplace to work for the environment. Restraining the market will not only drive up the cost, but heighten the risk to our environment.

We saw progress in Bonn on developing country efforts as well. We applaud Argentina's leadership in becoming the first developing country to announce a binding emissions target. Argentina's action reflects a genuine commitment to participate meaningfully in the international effort to meet this global challenge. And it illustrates how a developing country can fashion a target that benefits the environment while contributing to its sustainable development. We must take up the challenge laid before us by Argentina and develop a process for international acceptance of its target as soon as possible. And we must create what Minister Alsogaray called "a bridge to the Convention" for Argentina and other developing countries that voluntarily adopt appropriate targets so that they may benefit from all the Kyoto mechanisms. We applaud as well Kazakhstan's formal request for inclusion in Annex I and call on the Conference to accept it.

More broadly, we are encouraged by the signs that many other developing countries are taking real measures to address this global challenge. Many made impressive presentations on the concrete domestic actions they are taking to limit greenhouse gas emissions. And, in our negotiations, many developing countries voiced genuine enthusiasm for the Clean Development Mechanism, and participated very constructively in the efforts to forge agreement on other mechanisms, sinks, compliance, and other key issues.

The United States has called for a new dialogue to build on these successes by exploring, at a high level, the full range of market-oriented strategies that can create sustainable development opportunities for developing countries that voluntarily reduce their emissions. In conversations with developing country delegates over the past few days, this approach struck a responsive chord, and we will work in the coming months with other developing country partners to further this important dialogue. With creativity and determination, we can help our partners in the developing world avoid the pitfalls of the past century, and move beyond the outdated notion that pollution is the inexorable product of economic growth.

Finally, we have charted a course for the critical months ahead that considerably raises the prospects for success when we convene next year in the Hague. Specifically, the Parties agreed to more than double the time devoted to negotiations between now and the Hague conference. We will hold two inter-sessional meetings over the next year, one in June and one in October, as well as a series of technical workshops. In addition, the Parties have invested the President of the COP with the authority to take all necessary steps to intensify the negotiating process. Completing the Buenos Aires action plan will still be an extraordinary challenge. That is one of the reasons the United States had preferred to hold COP-6 in early 2001. But, with no consensus for a later date, we are pleased that the Parties joined us in ensuring a focused, accelerated negotiating process over the coming year. Between now and COP-6, the United States will continue to strengthen its efforts at home to meet the challenge of global warming. And we will continue working with other nations to address the critical issue of cost-effectiveness, and to achieve meaningful participation by key developing countries, so that the Kyoto Protocol can be ratified and enter into force at the earliest possible date.

Two years ago, when our nations assembled in Kyoto, there was until the very final moments of negotiation no certainty at all that agreement would be reached. Fortunately, as the last long night of negotiation gave way to dawn, the remaining differences were bridged. And there emerged an accord that, if we remain steady in our resolve, may well prove one of history's most profound.

Our time in Bonn has not produced such moments of high drama, and the progress we have achieved here is not as easily measured. But the task before us has been no less important. For now we must turn the Kyoto Protocol into a working reality -- build on its foundation a concrete agreement that effectively mobilizes our will, our energies, and our resources against the grave risks of global warming.

In short, we are on the right track towards finishing the important work begun in Kyoto -- but we must keep going. Today, November 4, is the birthday of the American humorist Will Rogers. Will Rogers once said that "even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." The world cannot "just sit there" as the planet warms. We must act with determination and resolve. And as we address the very complex and sometimes contentious issues at hand, we all must move forward in good faith, drawing deeply on what Abraham Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature." The United States looks forward to doing so in the year to come.

[end of document]

|| Climate Change |
Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs |
U.S. Department of State | Disclaimers ||