Denis Naughten
Question:36 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the discussions he has had with the United States authorities in relation to the Kyoto Protocol and climate change. [16451/04]
View answerWednesday, 2 June 2004
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Written answers
EU international policy on climate change is determined through close co-ordination between all member states and the European Commission, and a common EU position is presented externally. The Government, primarily through my Department, is working within the EU, and representing the EU position externally through the Troika system, to ensure the Kyoto Protocol enters into force at the earliest possible date. The EU continues to engage with the US on a range of climate change issues despite its decision not to ratify the protocol.
I met the US delegation during the preparations for last December's conference of the parties to the UN framework convention on climate change, and discussed the need for progress in relation to the Kyoto Protocol. In my position as the chairman of the OECD meeting in Paris of Environment Ministers in April 2004, at which the US participated, my conclusions noted that Ministers participating in the discussions on the climate change part of the agenda stressed the need for sufficient ratifications to ensure the entry into force of the protocol, the importance that signatories move ahead to meet their Kyoto commitments, and the need to look ahead to post-Kyoto actions.
I spoke to the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, who attended the OECD meeting, on the margins of the meeting and I will continue to work constructively with the US in my presidency capacity regarding environment policies in general, including climate change.