--protesters from 30 countries unite to fight global warming [file #2 ??

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http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article330864.ece

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excerpt: from: what planet are you
,,,, "but the real sticking point
broadly agreed that rich countries
per cent by 2050 if there is to be
out of control. the kyoto protocol
by only 5.2 per cent, and everyone
problem. "
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on, mr bush? (and do you care, mr blair?)
is what happens in the future. scientists are
have to reduce their emissions by a massive 80
any hope of stopping climate change escalating
targets, even if they are met, will reduce them
agrees that it barely makes a dent on the

what planet are you on, mr bush? (and do you care, mr blair?)
tens of thousands of people marched in 33 countries yesterday to express concern
for the environment.
but will their leaders respond?
geoffrey lean and david randall report ,,,, [published: 04 december 2005 ]

more than 100,000 people took to the streets in more than 30 countries yesterday,
in the first world-wide demonstration to press for action to combat global
warming. the marches - timed to put pressure on the most important international
climate-change negotiations since the agreement of the kyoto protocol eight years
ago - took place against a background of a blizzard of new research showing that
the heating of the planet is seriously affecting the world sooner than the
scientists predicted (see panel below).

the protests were directed primarily at president george bush, who has been
assiduously trying to sabotage the protocol and has ruled out even talking about
setting targets for reducing the pollution that causes global warming, once the
current targetsexpire. harlan watson - the head of the us delegation to the
negotiations, being held in montreal - announced at the opening of the meeting:
"the united states is opposed to any such discussions."

yesterday's march in london was also directed at tony blair. ten thousand
demonstrators - who created a party atmosphere while carrying banners linking the
president and the prime minister as "climate criminals" - took a special detour to
hand in a letter at no 10 downing street. they are concerned that mr blair - who
put climate change at the head of the international agenda by making it one of his
priorities for this summer's gleneagles summit - may have recently trimmed his
position to please mr bush. the letter demanded that he reaffirm the government's
commitment to a new international treaty with legally binding targets on reducing
emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants that cause the climate change.
the prime minister has caused widespread confusion by appearing to back such a
treaty, then to cast doubt on it. the protesters also demanded that britain
should do much more to cut its own pollution; emissions of carbon dioxide have
actually risen since labour took power in 1997, despite repeated election pledges
to cut them by 20 per cent by 2010. nick rau, friends of the earth's energy
campaigner, said: "if the uk is serious about leadership on climate change then
our government needs to take action at home. it is not too late."

the first demonstration of the day took place in australia when thousands of
protesters marched in sydney, melbourne and brisbane. australia is, with the us,
the only western industrialised nation not to have ratified kyoto.
the australian government reacted by reaffirming its refusal to join the protocol,
insisting, according to its environment minister, ian campbell: "we need to do
something that suits the developed world, something that suits the rapidly
developing world - partnerships, technologies, economic mechanisms that drive us
towards that."

one of the biggest demonstrations took place in montreal where inuit from the
arctic were keen to draw attention to the melting of ice in their territory, which
is threatening their fishing and livelihoods. they were among a crowd of some
7,000 people, around half the number organisers had anticipated. five
environmental groups, including greenpeace and the climate crisis coalition,
delivered a petition signed by 600,000 americans to the us consulate in montreal
urging the bush administration to help slow global warming. in washington, drivers
of hybrid cars - which emit far less carbon dioxide - planned to drive around the
white house. and in new orleans - devastated by hurricane katrina - residents
intended to hold a "save new orleans, stop global warming" party in the french
quarter. events were held in 40 other us cities. protests were also held in
bulgaria, croatia, finland, france, germany, greece, ireland, italy, new zealand,
norway, philippines, russia, south africa, south korea, and turkey.

the us protests symbolised a major change in opinion in the united states since
hurricane katrina, which doubled the number of people telling opinion polls that
they believed global warming was an immediate threat. another poll, carried out by
the conservative fox news, shows that more than three-quarters of americans
believe that global warming is happening and is at least partially caused by human
activity, and that 60 per cent see it as a "crisis" or a "major problem".

but this has yet to make an impact on the bush administration. camilla toulmin,
the director of the authoritative international institute of environment and
development, said: "in the case of the current us administration we may have to
give up ever hoping for a flicker of intelligence on climate change. the pattern
of interests based on oil and gas seems too closely knit into an armour-plated
defence of us plc."

the montreal conference, the first meeting of the parties to the kyoto protocol
since it came into force in february, has achieved one minor success. delegates
adopted most of the "rule book" needed to make the treaty operational, though
tactics by saudi arabia have held up agreement on how countries that break the
rules will be punished.

the uk government - which is playing a key role in the talks as head of the eu
delegation - was quick to hail this agreement, far from a foregone conclusion, as
a triumph. but environmentalists pointed out that the situation is dire indeed if
there could be doubt over whether even previously agreed rules would be formally
adopted.

the conference will also address bureaucratic un procedures which have held up
schemes to provide funds to developing countries to adopt cleaner technologies and
development policies.

but the real sticking point is what happens in the future. scientists are broadly
agreed that rich countries have to reduce their emissions by a massive 80 per cent
by 2050 if there is to be any hope of stopping climate change escalating out of
control. the kyoto protocol targets, even if they are met, will reduce them by
only 5.2 per cent, and everyone agrees that it barely makes a dent on the problem.
stavros dimas, the european environment commissioner, briefly cheered the
conference by predicting that the eu would meet its targets two years before the
deadline. but even he admitted that little was likely to be achieved in montreal.
"our objective is to get an agreement to start negotiations," he said.
and margaret beckett, the secretary of state for the environment, said that anyone
who believed that the meeting was going to agree to new pollution reduction
targets was "living in cloud-cuckoo land". she added: "let's see how we can move
forward instead of setting some arbitrary goal that cannot possibly be achieved."
britain says that moving forward depends on getting the us and leading developing
countries such as china, india and brazil to agree to join the battle against the
climate change. both camps have said that they will not join any new treaty unless
the other does.

but the developing countries have already taken far-reaching domestic action to
cut pollution and develop renewable energy and were expressing their willingness
in montreal's corridors last week to "play their part". the big obstacle - as
yesterday's demonstrators pointed out - is the white house.