U.S., China say climate report downplays costs

BANGKOK, Thailand — The United States and China want to amend a major report by U.N.-sponsored climate researchers to play down its conclusion that quick, affordable action can limit the worst effects of global warming.

The critiques, among hundreds of government comments on the draft document, are the prelude to what is expected to be a contentious weeklong meeting before final wording in the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is issued Friday.

Two previous IPCC reports this year painted a dire picture of a future in which unabated greenhouse-gas emissions could drive global temperatures up as much as 11 degrees by 2100, and said animal and plant life was already affected by warmer and rising seas, spreading drought and other effects.

The upcoming third report will look at technologies and policies that could help head off damaging climate change, and at what cost, and discuss feasible goals.

The IPCC assessment will provide fresh background for ongoing negotiations over a climate agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

The 1997 Kyoto pact requires 35 European and other nations to reduce industrial, transportation and agricultural emissions of carbon dioxide and other warming gases by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

President Bush rejected Kyoto's mandatory cuts, contending they would hobble the U.S. economy. China and other poor developing countries were exempted.

The draft of the third report says greenhouse emissions can be cut below current levels if the world takes such steps as shifting away from coal and other fossil fuels, investing in energy efficiency and working to halt deforestation.

The U.S. wants clauses inserted saying the cost of available technologies "could be unacceptably high" and calling for a greater emphasis on "advanced technologies," many aimed at extending the use of coal. The United States and China also criticized the draft's economic projections.