Tech transfer looms as 'deal breaker' at climate conference

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NUSA DUA, Indonesia -- Deep divisions between rich and poor countries are threatening to scuttle an agreement at the Bali climate conference, with only two days remaining to bridge the gap.Negotiations on a key issue -- how to transfer clean technology from wealthy countries to the developing world -- broke down and collapsed in an acrimonious dispute early Wednesday."Our partners don't seem to live up to their rhetoric about their desire for a maximum Bali outcome," a leader of the Group of 77 complained Wednesday night.An equally stubborn stalemate was continuing over whether the Bali conference should produce a "road map" with ambitious guidelines to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by wealthy countries 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020.The United States and Canada are leading the opposition to the European proposal, arguing that it would "prejudge" the results of future negotiations.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it might be "too ambitious" to put the European proposal into the Bali road map. "Practically speaking, this will have to be negotiated down the road," he told reporters.But Wednesday night, European leaders said they were still fighting to keep their plan alive. And negotiators were trying a last-ditch rescue effort, creating an inner group of ministers from 40 countries to tackle the deadlocks over emission targets and technology transfer.The technology dispute could be crucial to the fate of the Bali talks. Developing countries are unlikely to agree to cut their emissions if they don't receive any concrete promises from wealthy nations on technology transfer."Developing countries are saying that this could be a deal-breaker," said Mark Lutes, climate and energy policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation."This has created the biggest crisis that the talks have had in Bali so far. It has already created a lot of ill will among the developing countries. It could poison the atmosphere and bring Bali to a grinding halt."Canadian Environment Minister John Baird said he is willing to consider a global reduction target of 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020, and much deeper cuts by 2050, although he said it would take the next two years to figure out how to allocate the obligations of each country."I don't think a 50 percent reduction globally by 2050 is enough," Baird told reporters. "We're prepared to go to 60 or 70 percent. If we get all the big emitters on board, I think we can do more by 2050. ... But we can only do it if we get everyone else on board."A senior Canadian official, however, seemed to undercut Baird's promises by sending reporters a copy of an Australian newspaper article in which business groups warned of "catastrophic economic effects" if the 25 percent-to-40 percent target is adopted.Canada is pushing for a clause to recognize a country's special "national circumstances" as a potential reason for softening its targets. Asked to identify Canada's special circumstances, Baird said: "We're a country that has significant immigration. ... We're a country that has 82 percent of its trade with one country. ... We'll discuss this at the negotiating table. We're not going to put our negotiating strategy in the front window."Baird also announced that the government has introduced new regulations to require Canadian industries to submit data about their emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Most heavy industries will have to disclose their emissions by the end of next May, with binding targets to follow after that."I know that some in industry won't be happy with this announcement, but everyone across Canada must do their part," he said. "This is one of the most ambitious regulatory agendas every undertaken in Canadian history."Environmentalists said the new regulations are toothless and filled with potential loopholes, allowing industry to dodge the intent of the new rules.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)