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How America plotted to stop Kyoto
deal
By Andrew Buncombe in Montreal
12/08/05 "The
Independent" -- -- A detailed and disturbing strategy
document has revealed an extraordinary American plan to destroy
Europe's support for the Kyoto treaty on climate change.
The ambitious, behind-the-scenes plan was passed to The Independent
this week, just as 189 countries are painfully trying to agree the
second stage of Kyoto at the UN climate conference in Montreal. It
was pitched to companies such as Ford Europe, Lufthansa and the
German utility giant RWE.
Put together by a lobbyist who is a senior official at a group
partly funded by ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company and a
fierce opponent of anti-global warming measures, the plan seeks to
draw together major international companies, academics, think-tanks,
commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across Europe into a
powerful grouping to destroy further EU support for the treaty.
It details just how the so-called "European Sound Climate Policy
Coalition" would work. Based in Brussels, the plan would have
anti-Kyoto position papers, expert spokesmen, detailed advice and
networking instantly available to any politician or company who
wanted to question the wisdom of proceeding with Kyoto and its
demanding cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.
It has been drawn up by Chris Horner, a senior official with the
Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute and a veteran
campaigner against Kyoto and against the evidence of climate change.
One of his colleagues who describes himself as an adviser to
President George Bush was the subject of a censure motion by the
Commons last year after he attacked the Government's chief
scientist.
Mr Horner, whose CEI group has received almost $1.5m (£865,000) from
ExxonMobil, is convinced that Europe could be successfully
influenced by such a policy coalition just as the US government has
been.
He thinks Europe's weakening economies are likely to be increasingly
ill at ease with the costs of meeting Kyoto. And in particular, he
has spotted something he thinks most of Europe has not yet woken up
to. Most of the original 15 EU Kyoto signatories Britain is an
exception are on course to miss their 2010 CO2 reduction targets.
But under the terms of the treaty, they will face large fines for
doing so, in terms of much bigger reduction targets in any second
phase.
These will prove unacceptably costly to their economies, Mr Horner
believes, even if they try to buy their way out by buying up "spare"
emissions for cash from countries such as Russia. Mr Horner believes
the moment for his coalition is at hand and has been seeking support
for it from multinational companies. In his pitch to one major
company, he wrote: " In the US an informal coalition has helped
successfully to avert adoption of a Kyoto-style programme by
maintaining a rational voice for civil society and ensuring a
legitimate debate over climate economics, science and politics. This
model should be emulated... to guide similar efforts in Europe."
Elsewhere he claimed: "A coalition addressing the economic and
social impacts of the EU climate agenda must be broad-based (cross
industry) and rooted in the member states. Other companies
(including Lufthansa, Exxon, Ford) have already indicated their
interest!"
Last night green groups hit out. Kert Davies, Greenpeace's climate
campaign co-ordinator, which initially obtained the documents, said:
"These are the hitmen for the Bush administration and the likes of
Exxon. They are behind the scenes doing the dirty work. They are
extending efforts to Europe where they are trying to undermine the
momentum to solve global warming."
While there is nothing illegal about the lobbying, the documents
reveal a rare insight into the well-funded efforts within the US to
influence opinion at senior levels of European corporations.
Campaigners say the campaign is similar to a notorious lobbying
effort carried out during the 1990s to undermine support for Kyoto
within the US.
The revelation comes as international negotiators in Montreal are
discussing the next step within Kyoto and the possibility of
introducing new emissions targets. The Bush administration which
has rejected the treaty has insisted it will not agree to any
measures that legally bind it to reduce emissions. Mr Horner has
been present this week in Montreal.
When contacted by The Independent, Mr Horner confirmed the strategy
document was the draft of a presentation he sent to RWE. He defended
his lobbying effort saying "that is what I do". He said he simply
promoted a point of view, as did Greenpeace. "I don't begrudge them
what they do [but] they begrudge me what I do," he said.
Asked if he thought it was appropriate for a major American oil
company to be funding a lobbyist targeting European companies, he
replied: " Everybody else does." But Mr Horner, who is also a senior
figure within the Cool Heads Coalition, a group that questions the
evidence of global warming and opposes any policies to "ration"
energy, claimed his efforts to influence opinion in Europe had been
unsuccessful. He said RWE had not taken up the suggestions contained
within his presentation, and that other companies had also rejected
his ideas.
"I don't know why it's surprising [I have lobbied European
companies]," he said. "What is surprising to me is why it's not
working." Ford and RWE confirmed that they and other companies had
met Mr Horner and other advocates in Brussels last February. He had
not been paid any fee nor had they contributed to his expenses. Mr
Horner apparently travelled to Europe at the request of the European
Enterprise Industry, a fledgling group hoping to emulate the CEI.
Bill McAndrews, a spokesman for RWE, said: "He met with [us and]
other German companies in Brussels. Brussels is the EU capital,
there are a lot of people who come to meet. We have not approached
him since then." He added: "RWE talks to all sorts of people. We
talk with Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund. We discuss matters
with all opinions. It's important to hear everybody's side on such a
global issue. It does not mean that RWE shares that opinion."
In a statement, ExxonMobil, said: "The notion adopted by some groups
... that only their views and only their funding and lobbying are
acceptable is, in our opinion, not helpful to the debates vital to
developing good public policy."
Adrian Schmitt, a spokesman for Ford Europe, said Mr Horner had met
with company representatives on one occasion "at a Brussels level".
He insisted that Ford had not supported Mr Horner's opinions.
"Exactly the opposite. Our position is that climate change is a
serious issue and appropriate steps need to be taken now."
He said that the company had been one of the first companies to
withdraw its support for the Global Climate Coalition a
now-defunct lobbying effort that worked to oppose US reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions during the late Nineties.
© 2005 Independent News and Media Limited
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