wfn.org | Clinton on Climate Change

[Miriam REIDY PROST <mr@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
23 October 1997

WCC CRITICISES US REFUSAL TO SIGN UP TO CLIMATE CHANGE
TARGETS

"The US government has given in to the opposition of the oil and
automobile lobby. This is a recipe for environmental disaster." That is the
view of  the General Secretary of the WCC,  Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser who
has today (Thursday)  expressed his grave disappointment following the
US Government s announcement that it will delay the cutting of
greenhouse gas emissions for 20 years.

Suspense over the long-awaited position of the US government in the
continuing negotiations for an international climate change treaty ended
yesterday when President Bill Clinton went back on United States
promises to stabilize emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000. This
pledge was made by President George Bush at the Earth Summit in Rio
de Janeiro five years ago and renewed by Clinton in 1993.

The WCC General Secretary stated: "The lack of political will and power
by the US to prevent severe damage to the earth s environment is
alarming. The announcement made yesterday is a surrender to pressure
from the US automobile, oil and coal industries. The US government can
no longer claim moral leadership in international negotiations on
environmental issues. The WCC will continue to call for adequate
measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This simply
cannot be the last word by the US president."

Background note to editors:  The WCC has been actively addressing
the issue of climate change for almost ten years. Alarmed by the slow
progress in taking steps to reduce emissions,  the WCC in 1996
launched an international campaign to support more determined action
by governments of industrialized countries. The WCC sees climate
change as a graphic illustration of the destructive impact on the
biosphere caused by exploitative economic systems and lifestyles of
over-consumption which not only damage God s creation but
exacerbate inequities within the human family. Greenhouse gas
emissions which increase global warming are primarily caused by
today s industrialized countries.  However, the consequences of climate
change will be experienced disproportionately by poorer developing
nations, low-lying states, and future generations.
 

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 330, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but
works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the
Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC
was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

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