US, China 'must act to avert disaster'

[Doondoo]

The world faces a global warming disaster if the US and China do not take decisive action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, leading economists said at the United Nations yesterday.

Jeffrey Sachs, speaking with British economist Sir Nicholas Stern, said the commitment of the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases to make more serious efforts to cut carbon dioxide emission was fundamental to forging a comprehensive agreement on global warming. "It's a mistake to let either China or the US think they are doing a lot," said Professor Sachs, head of the UN Millennium Project.

"We have to look at the numbers all the time, not just the direction, not the sentiment, not the announcements. We have to look at the numbers because that's all that counts in the end."

.......

He said he expected global warming would be a key issue in the 2008 US presidential election.

"I see it as impossible in our current political environment for a candidate not to have a clear and strong position on limiting greenhouse gases in the US," he said.


http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/us-china-must-act-to-avert-disaster/2007/02/17/1171405500978.html