Bali Island, Indonesia - The US, Japan and Canada are putting the brakes on progress in the fight against global warming, according to observers at the UN climate change conference. They have tried to curtail ambitious goals and concrete promises in all rounds of negotiations, said Meena Raman, chairman of Friends of the Earth, Wednesday in Bali.
Even establishing a working group to address questions of technology transfer has encountered resistance from the three countries, said Raman.
Industrialized countries committed themselves years ago to help less developed countries with clean technologies for better energy use but the promises have not been kept, said the head of Friends of the Earth.
"If the record shows that the obligations of the industrialised nations have not been met how can you expect the developing countries to step up to the plate?" asked Raman.
Seeing a lack of ambition from the US, Japan and Canada, Raman remains sceptical about all their hype around climate change.
The European director of Climate Action Network (CAN) wants to see clear promises from the US, Japan and Canada to meet the goal of lowering greenhouse emissions 25 to 40 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020 - the recommendation of a Bali conference preparation meeting in Vienna.
"If we want to chart out a roadmap (for a new climate change regime) the question is: a roadmap to where?" said CAN's Matthias Duwe.
The Kyoto Protocol, the treaty aimed at fighting global warming, was signed 10 years ago and expires in 2012 and prescribes emission cuts for 36 industrialized nations. The US refused to ratify Kyoto, and many industrialized countries that did are not on target to meet the goals.
