Obama : les Etats-Unis s’engagent à fixer des objectifs climatiques ambitieux[en] 

The global community must decide on a new international agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol on climate change before the United Nations conference in Copenhagen in December next year. 

The first critical step was taken at the UN climate change conference in Bali in December 2007, when all countries agreed upon a roadmap for achieving a global deal by the end of 2009. Under the terms of the Bali Action Plan, a deal must be struck during two UN conferences in Poznań in 2008 and Copenhagen in 2009. 

The US role in these negotiations is crucial, as China and India said they were not prepared to make any commitments unless the US was ready assume a key role in tackling climate change.

EU countries have been pushing the United States to show more leadership for years, but the Bush administration always refused to make any significant US commitments. 

"We will establish strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them by an additional 80 percent by 2050," he said, speaking in a video address to a global warming summit attended by US governors and foreign officials on Tuesday (18 November). 

Obama said he would not attend the UN climate talks in Poznań (Poland) in early December, which fall under the watch of outgoing President George W. Bush. However, he wants the United States to "engage vigorously" in climate negotiations and asked members of Congress to report back to him on what the US could do to reassert leadership on global climate policy. 

Cap and trade system: 'first step' to revive US climate leadership 

As a first step in tackling emissions, Obama reiterated he would develop a "cap and trade" system that limits CO2 emissions from big industry. During his election campaign, Obama promised to create an emissions trading system similar to that of the European Union (see LinksDossier), which sets limits and allows companies to trade pollution permits to exceed them.

Professor Robert N. Stavins, co-director of a Harvard project on an international climate agreement, welcomed Obama's speech, which "seems to indicate that the Obama administration plans to try for legislation establishing a US cap and trade system right away, rather than waiting," he said. 

Stavins underlined that the only politically feasible approach that can make a real dent in the problem is a comprehensive, upstream cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The declining cap will increase the cost of polluting, thereby discouraging the use of the most carbon-intensive fossil fuels and providing powerful incentives for energy conservation and technology innovation. 

According to Stevins, the US system could start with a 50-50 split between auctioned and free allowances, gradually moving to 100 percent auctioning over 25 years. To establish political support in the short term, free allowances should be targeted to sectors that are most burdened by the policy. The auction revenue, which will increase over time, could be used to compensate low-income consumers, finance research and development, reduce the federal deficit or cut taxes, he said. 

During his address, Obama said his plans to invest $15 billion every year in solar power, wind power and other renewable fuels would reduce US dependence on foreign oil and improve national security, while helping the planet at the same time. 

"It will also help us transform our industries and steer our country out of this economic crisis," he said, mentioning a frequently-cited estimate that five million jobs could be created in "green" or environment-related industries. 

Bringing all domestic and international parties on board 

"When I am president, any governor who's willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House. Any company that's willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington. And any nation that's willing to join the cause of combating climate change will have an ally in the United States of America," noted Obama, indicating that climate change will not be solved without the involvement of all countries. 

The real dialogue will need to take place with China and India, the world's most populous nations, which are seen by many as posing the biggest climate-change problems. China is widely believed to be the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, while India is catching up quickly. Their exploding emissions are among the main reasons why the US has failed to take action itself, while their rigid stance exasperates those trying to negotiate a global agreement on climate-change mitigation to replace the Kyoto Protocol. 

Speaking in Brussels, Australian Deputy Secretary for the Environment Howard Damsey, his country's chief climate negotiator, said there was a desire to boost "mutual respect" and a clear "willingness to push as hard as we can for an agreement".  

"As world leaders gather in the coming weeks in Poland to negotiate a pathway out of the climate crisis, the eyes of the world will be upon America and our newfound resolve to rejoin global efforts," Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said in a statement. "With today's call for action on global warming, President-elect Obama has kicked the gears of change into motion," he added.