BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Ministers from nearly 200 countries clinched a historic deal Monday that should force most rich industrial nations to curb the air pollution blamed for global warming, but left the United States isolated.(Read photo caption below).
An all-night bargaining marathon in Bonn saw European Union ministers finally break a deadlock with Japan over how the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gas emissions would work in practice, paving the way for the treaty to come into force.
Another failure, after the collapse of a summit at The Hague in November, could have killed it off for good following President Bush's withdrawal from the pact in March.
``It's a brilliant day for the environment,'' a weary but elated Michael Meacher, the British environment minister, told Reuters. ``It's a huge leap to have achieved a result on this very complex international negotiation. It's a huge relief.''
Environmentalists voiced some disappointment at what they called loopholes in the deal. Greenpeace dubbed it ''Kyoto-Lite.''
But they said any accord which made a start on curbing dangerous warming of the Earth's climate and the threat of rising sea levels due to melting ice was better than nothing.
Amid bleary smiles and multiple standing ovations for conference chairman Jan Pronk, the Dutch environment minister, there was irritation that Bush had rejected any deal in advance, saying Kyoto's mandatory emissions would hurt the U.S. economy.
``One country not playing the game is one too many,'' said the EU's chief negotiator, Belgian Energy Minister Olivier Deleuze.
U.S. STANDS BY REJECTION
Bush's representative in Bonn, Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky, told delegates: ``Although the United States does not intend to ratify that agreement we have not tried to stop others from moving ahead as long as U.S. interests are not threatened.''
Some observers in the hall heckled her remarks, in a rare interruption of the festive atmosphere.
In a conciliatory gesture, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said in Tokyo his government would ``continue maximum efforts'' toward ``an agreement inclusive of the United States.''
Canada, another U.S. ally on environmental issues which only belatedly swung behind Monday's deal, also said it hoped to see a promised new climate policy from Bush ``converging'' on Kyoto.
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PHOTO CAPTION:
Conference chairman Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk applauds the delegations following the closing of climate talks in Bonn, western Germany, Monday, July 23, 2001. Negotiators from 178 nations rescued the 1997 Kyoto Protocol after 48 hours of marathon talks ending Monday, leaving the United States isolated as the rest of the world embraced the first binding treaty on combating global warming. (AP Photo/Hermann J. Knippe