Position of US

Increasing involvement of US

While United States are one of the main and most important players in the climate change negotiations they have signed only the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change which is the most universally supported treaty on climate change and oppose to the ratification of Kyoto Protocol. Some US representatives refer to the lack of Global Warming legislation in the county which is slowing down all the process.

Enablers:

1. Strong political will 2. Increasing public pressure inside the country 3. Changes in business practices 4. Improvement of alternative energy sources/development of energy industry.

Inhibitors:

1. Dependency on fossil fuel 2. Strong business lobbies (especially for fossil based industries)

Paradigms:

US can lead other nations in Climate Change negotiations as a country which is highly economically, industrially and technologically developed. It can offer innovative solutions to address the Global Warming problem.

Timing:

-In 1997 in terms of UFCCC US agreed to reduce emissions of 7% during 2008-2012.
-In July 2000, European Parliament accused US of being non-cooperative because George Bush stated that he will oppose Kyoto Protocol.
-In 2009 in terms of Copenhagen conference Barak Obama made speech that was disappointing to observers and did not bring anything new into negotitions.

Web Resources:

http://www.globalissues.org/article/179/reactions-to-climate-change-negotiations-and-action http://www.globalissues.org/article/521/un-framework-convention-on-climate-change http://unfccc.int/2860.php http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=todd-stern-climate-change-special-envoy-copenhagen http://www.environbusiness.com/CChange/Kyoto.html http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/09/climate_myth_fact.html http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2001/2001-07-06-03.asp