UK Environment Minister Downplays Expectations For Montreal - Guardian

[hatrack]

Gee, I wonder why?

Margaret Beckett, environment secretary, yesterday played down expectations in advance of a climate change summit in Montreal next week. She said the UK's long-term approach to how the world should tackle greenhouse gas pollution when the Kyoto protocol expires in 2012 still relied on binding targets to compel countries to cut emissions, but it was too early to put such ideas on the table.

"What we want out of Montreal is a way forward," she said. "We want a variety of ideas that people will come up with when they start to think sensibly about what we might do beyond 2012."

The US has already signalled it will resist attempts to draw it into a fresh international process to cut emissions. Mrs Beckett warned against setting "totally unachievable goals" for the meeting. "There are people as we all know who really don't want this to work," she said. "Saying that, unless targets are set in Montreal it will be a failure, is playing into their hands."

Officials say the best possible outcome of the two-week meeting is a joint declaration of the need for future action.

EDIT

Super! A joint declaration - no wonder I'm all tingly! :eyes:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1655937,00.html