U.S. Balks at New Climate Report

Thai activists hold giant poster in front of United Nations office in Bangkok Monday April 30, 2007. They demand world's government take immediate action to revolutionize energy production in response to repeated warning about catastrophic climate change from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change .(AP photo/Sakchai Lalit) (Sakchai Lalit - AP)

The U.S. wants clauses inserted saying the cost of available technologies to reduce emissions and stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations "could be unacceptably high" and calling for a greater emphasis on "advanced technologies," many of which are aimed at extending the use of coal.

The United States and China also criticized the draft's economic projections, which conclude that stabilizing gases to establish the 2-degree-Celsius ceiling would cost less than 3 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) over two decades _ compared with 3-percent yearly growth currently. China complained the number of studies supporting that optimistic forecast is "relatively small."

The damage from unabated climate change, meanwhile, might cost the global economy between 5 percent and 20 percent of GDP every year, according to a British government report last year.

In its defense, the United States said it is working to promote energy efficiency, vehicle fuel efficiency and clean-coal technology while sustaining economic growth.

"Our goal throughout the IPCC process is for the reports to best reflect the latest state of knowledge on addressing global climate change so that these reports are useful to the policy community and are supported by scientific and economic data," Harlan Watson, U.S. delegation head, said by e-mail.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the climate change panel, said "every country" would have a chance to express its views and "ultimately it's a balanced assessment of the science that will prevail."

More than 200 delegates chosen by 119 countries will examine the IPCC's report this week and recommend changes before it is finalized.

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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: http://www.ipcc.ch/