Breaking: Date set for next 'major emitters' meeting

At his press briefing today, I asked Harlan Watson, lead US negotiator, whether he could confirm that the US had recently sent round invites to a second meeting on climate change for the major economies.

It turns out the meeting has been scheduled for the end of January in Honolulu, but had not yet been publicly announced. The US hopes to use the meeting to begin discussions of a what ‘long-term global goal' for emissions reduction might be.

One snag: the Kyoto countries already have both a medium and long-term goal. They agreed in Vienna that a 25-40% cut was needed for developed countries by 2020 (on a 1990 baseline) and would like global emissions cut by at least half by 2050.

The first of the meetings in this US-sponsored process was held in September and was inconclusive in its outcomes, although the Bush administration heralded it as an ‘excellent start' to building a post-2012 climate framework.

The Europeans, in particular, are less complimentary, at least in private. They are unlikely to be impressed by US protestations that it is merely trying to ‘help' the UN process along. Some delegations are said to be especially irritated by the timing of the move, with invitations arriving just as Bali got underway.

US isolation could be further increased if Australia strengthens its position next week. Rumours are floating around that Kevin Rudd, the new PM, or one of his ministerial team, will commit to the 25-40% target when he arrives in Indonesia.

The meeting will be held in Honolulu. The irony of choosing another holiday destination to talk about climate change has been noted...

(By the way, it's worth warning readers to treat these aspirational targets with a certain amount of care. The cuts are for the industrialized countries taken as a single group. Discussion on how the burden would be divvied up is yet to start, though the EU has made a unilateral commitment to a 20% cut, and has said it could go to 30% if others sign up to do their bit.)