20 April 2001: Environmentalists warned on Friday against delaying the fight against global warming just to give the United States more time to come up with a new policy.
William Hare, Greenpeace International's climate policy chief, said the US doesn't intend on bringing anything to the table, and waiting for them is a waste of time.'
"It's time for the rest of the world to stop listening to the United States,'' he said.
African environment ministers also criticised Washington for leaving Africa 'vulnerable and helpless' in the face of global warming. The scolding came at the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment running in parallel with a meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.
Environment Ministers from some 40 countries met on Saturday in New York for informal discussions on the way forward against global warming.
The Bush administration said last month it was opting out of the Kyoto pact because it would seriously harm its economy. The agreement in 1997 requirse industrialized nations to cut their carbon dioxide emissions by an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
The US administration said it was launching a comprehensive policy review but gave no deadline for its completion.
The United States is responsible for emitting about a quarter of the world's total output of greenhouse gases. . BB
