U.S. seeks to iron out differences

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, JUNE 12. The U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, arrived in Madrid on Tuesday amid protests against his policies on climate change and the National Missile Defence (NMD) system.

Mr. Bush embarked on a sensitive European mission, ostensibly to mend diplomatic and strategic fences with America's allies. He intends to use his first presidential trip to the continent to establish a dialogue of cooperation and understanding with the allies on missiles, global climate change and trade.

Although on the eve of his tour Mr. Bush modified his stand on these contentious issues that may not be sufficient to narrow the chasm between Europe and the U.S. on these issues. The silver lining for Mr. Bush is that the criticism of his policies is no more uniform among leaders in Europe who are moving away from conventional socialism to centrist and business-friendly policies to boost investments and economic growth.

Mr. Bush has told Europeans that he proposes to spend substantial sums on research into the causes of global warming and devise technologies to contain the challenges. But, according to U.S. officials, Mr. Bush is not likely to back down on his opposition to mandatory controls on emissions of green house gases. On the eve of his European tour, Mr. Bush outlined his proposals in a speech, which is rated as the first detailed response of his administration to international criticism, which followed after Mr. Bush's decision to abandon the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

The protocol committed the U.S. and 167 other nations to limits on emission of carbon dioxide and other gases, which according to the scientific community, may cause catastrophic changes in climate. The Kyoto treaty has not been ratified by the U.S. or any other major industrialised country.

However, Europeans, like the rest of the world, were taken aback by Mr. Bush's arbitrary rejection of the Kyoto accord. He hopes to clear the air regarding this issue during his tour.

Mr. Bush arrived in Spain today on the first leg of his five- nation tour. Mr. Bush proposed additional funding for American universities and laboratories to develop technologies to reduce green house gas emissions and noted that China, rated as the world's second largest emitter of gases after the U.S., would be exempt from the Kyoto agreement, as would be India.

As the U.S. and the European Union continue with their differing postures on climate control, the prospects of a consensus emerging look bleak. A great deal about a new consensus developing depends on how effectively Mr. Bush sells his new strategy at the NATO and E.U. summit meetings this week. He will later travel to Poland and Slovenia where he will meet his Russian counterpart, Mr. Vladimir Putin.

While some members of the global scientific community are convinced that global climate is hotting up with impending signs of drastic changes, some European experts argue that to reach hasty conclusions would be erroneous, as the science of climate change is still in its infancy. But, the common perception based on current scientific evidence is that global warming is already happening and is rated as man-made with the risk of disastrous consequences.

Political leaders and Government officials have yet to hammer out a consensus approach to contain the challenges on climatic changes. This did not happen at the Hague conference, despite much official rhetoric to the contrary. The developed world finds itself in an ideological, moral and scientific quandary. The argument at the Hague centred on the use of the so- called emissions trading and utilisation of carbon ``sinks'' like forests that could lower the cost of reaching targets agreed at the Kyoto conference.

The more optimistic perception is that the Euro- American dialogue may give all Governments a chance to craft an alternative response to Kyoto protocol.

A commission on climate change, made up of the world's top scientists, concluded that man's actions had ``contributed substantially'' to global warming in the past five decades and that the process was accelerating.

Mr. Bush will spell out his case for a missile defence system and reiterate his strategy at the NATO and European- American summits. After conferring with the U.S.'s allies, he will meet Mr. Putin.

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