US Signals Support for EU's Climate Roadmap in COP17

Head of the US delegation to the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework of Climate Change Conventions (UNFCCC) indicated on Thursday that Washington supports the European Union's roadmap unveiled at the meeting.

"I think again misconception about all the various action (US made) including the negotiation preparatory work, negotiation of the new regime which you know the EU called roadmap, we support that." US special envoy on climate change Todd Stern said when responding to the questions by a journalist.

The EU proposal would follow the current legal framework established under the Kyoto Protocol, which expires next year. The EU wants the parties at the COP17 meeting to agree to establish a new treaty by 2015 that would go into effect by 2020.

"We make a proposal, you can look it up, to the secretary of the COP, a full legally binding agreement which calls for a legally binding applies for all the major countries, cover the emission need to covered if going to have the chance to solve the problem," Stern said.

He also denied that the US is blocking legally binding agreement at the COP17 conference and declared "strongly committed" to the Green Climate Fund.

Now it is still ambiguous whether the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol would be extended in Durban. The EU is trying to convince developing countries of its roadmap.

Earlier, when commenting on the EU proposed roadmap, US deputy climate change envoy Jonathan Pershing expressed opposition to the idea, saying it would have to bind all parties equally.

"We're not looking for a mechanism in which we would have an obligation to reduce emissions of a legal form and the major emerging economies would have a voluntary program," said Pershing. "That's kind of the Kyoto structure. We are not a party to Kyoto, in no small measure, because of that constraint."