The US negotiating position

Chief negotiator at Copenhagen for the US, Todd Stern, arrived at COP15 yesterday. At a press conference he offered a view of the US position on the discussions happening over the next week.

The US is pushing a new category of participation in a global emissions framework, post-Kyoto. Since the US rejected Kyoto (and has no plans of ever signing on), and China and India were not required by it to reduce emissions, this new category would bring these countries (responsible for about half of current emissions) into the fold.

Stern rejected the call from many of the climate justice advocates in Copenhagen that the US and other industrialized nations owe a debt to the world for their historical emissions. Instead, he said that the US sees Copenhagen agreement as a development treaty, wherein industrialized countries would aid poorer nations' development with carbon-free technology.