The United States has said post-Kyoto protocols to tackle climate change will not make any sense if India and China are 'given a pass' and that Washington will not be a signatory to any such framework if the two Asian giants are not on board.
"The international community has got to come up with a new plan. And if we give a pass, again, to India and China, these major rapidly growing economies -- if we don't get them on, whatever measures we take are going to be totally cancelled and overshadowed," Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said in an interview.
Asked if they don't do it, he said, "We're not going to do it, if they don't have signatories, we're not going to be signatories. I think we will probably, and if you look at legislation that is in our system, and if you look at what the political candidates are saying, I think you can count on us coming up with certain limitations in the months and years ahead."
"I don't think there is any doubt about that. The question is whether we also make them internationally legally binding, and I think to take that second step, I think we would insist that other countries, including these major emitting nations like China and India, do so as well," he said.
Expressing concern, Negroponte said if the US does not take proper action, by the year 2050, emissions by these nations are going to totally overshadow the savings or the reductions that have been carried out by Western Europe and current industrialised economics.
"Technology is going to be a major part of the answer, clean coal technology and others. And a lot of work is being done on that. It probably needs to be accelerated. And some of these countries have got to reduce the trade barriers to the import of some of these environmental technologies," Negroponte added.
