Washington - Rapidly developing countries including China and India will have to be part of any global deal on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change, according to a report released Wednesday by a group of former world and business leaders. The Global Leadership for Climate Action (GLCA) warned that the planet may have already passed the "threshold" for avoiding some of the most dangerous consequences of global warming. Countries around the world will now be forced to adapt to "inevitable" changes weather.
"Even in the past six months, the scientific evidence is becoming clearer that climate change is occurring at a faster pace than previously thought," read the report, compiled after a February meeting of the influential group in Monaco. "This underscores the urgency of action to reduce emissions."
The GLCA, led by former Chilean president Ricardo Lagos and endorsed by dozens of former world leaders, weighed into the controversial debate over the role of developing countries in any future global deal on cutting climate-damaging emissions.
"The division of the world into developed and developing countries will no longer suffice," the GLCA said, urging emerging economies to engage in "constructive action" to cut their pollution levels.
The United States refused to adopt the 1997 Kyoto Protocol - the first global climate treaty - in part because it did not require developing nations to cut emissions.
The involvement of countries like China, India and Brazil has again been a key US requirement for talks on a post-Kyoto deal, which the world hopes to wrap up by the end of next year. China has grown to become the world's largest polluter, along with the United States.
The GLCA also called for better cooperation and financing for countries to develop new technologies and adapt to the worst consequences of climate change.
