The United States staked out a tough position on the opening day of the global warming treaty talks yesterday, saying it would walk away from any agreement it did not deem workable. President Clinton told reporters in Washington he would send the Vice-President, Mr Al Gore, who is regarded as a strong environmentalist voice in the administration, to the conference.
But Mr Clinton also made clear Mr Gore would be going only to reiterate the US position, not to make any deals. He said the United States would take its own route to fighting climate change if it could not sign on to a deal in Kyoto.
"We're certainly going to negotiate in good faith, but we have to negotiate within the framework of our principles," Mr Clinton said. Mr Gore said: "We are perfectly prepared to walk away from an agreement that we don't think will work." The talks in Kyoto represented "the beginning of the process, not the end of the process".
The US, under heavy pressure from industries reliant on fossil fuels, has taken a relatively modest stance going into the talks. It has proposed limiting emissions of greenhouse gases at 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012, while the European Union has proposed a 15 per cent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2010.
The announcement of Mr Gore's plans to attend the talks followed long speculation over whether he would represent the US in Kyoto. But Mr Clinton said that UnderSecretary of State, Mr Stuart Eizenstat, a veteran trade and economic expert, would continue to lead the US negotiating team.
The US has insisted that developing countries participate, in some way, in any treaty that sets binding emissions limits on developed nations.
Yesterday in Kyoto however it made a significant change in its position by saying different levels of cuts could be set for different countries.