Europe OKs Freeze on Gas Emissions
European nations agreed Monday to freeze emissions of the gases most responsible for global warming by the year 2000, Swiss Interior Minister Flavio Cotti said.
But at the parallel Second World Climate Conference here, resistance from the United States helped water down a statement from nearly 100 countries, disappointing environmentalists by setting no target dates for controls on gas emissions.
Cotti said the Europeans’ decision came at a meeting of the six-nation European Free Trade Assn. (EFTA) and the 12-member European Community (EC), shortly before the conclusion of a worldwide conference on what to do about global warming, known as the greenhouse effect.
The EFTA-EC decision means the United States and Turkey are the only two members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development not committed to a freeze or reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
The draft agreement will be signed Wednesday at the end of the 10-day Second World Climate Conference.
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