May 1, 10:40 PM EDT

*EU Pushes Countries on Global Warming*

By MICHAEL CASEY
AP Environmental Writer

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Developing countries should stop blaming rich
nations for the Earth's changing climate and take immediate action to
avert the catastrophic effects of global warming, the European Union said.

A draft report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the
United Nations network of 2,000 scientists - is being debated in Bangkok
this week by delegates from more than 120 governments. A final version
was expected by Friday.

China, the world's second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the
United States, has said richer countries are responsible for global
warming and should take the lead in cleaning up the problem.

The United States and Australia have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol,
a U.N. treaty on climate change, partly over objections that China and
India are not held to carbon pollution reduction targets.

While he didn't single out any countries, Tom van Ierland - a member of
the EU delegation - called Tuesday on governments to stop using the
inaction of some of the world's biggest polluters as an excuse for not
implementing their own policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"We hope that kind of discussion can subside because we don't think it's
the right one," van Ierland said. "Some countries do use this rhetoric.
It's a bit sad because there are things to do."

Impoverished nations face the greatest impact from unchecked climate change.

Even a 3.6 degree Fahrenheit temperature rise could subject up to 2
billion people - mostly in the developing world - to water shortages by
2050, the IPCC says.

Some delegates from developing countries expressed fears Tuesday about
the predicted effects of climate change, including increasingly violent
storms, drought, and floods.

"Africa is a victim of climate change, it is not contributing to CO2
emissions," said Younis Al-Fenadi, the lone delegate from Libya. "The
final report should include promises of assistance to Africa, money for
training, planning and education."

Orvin Paige, of the delegation from the Caribbean nation of Antigua and
Barbuda, said he was frustrated that talks so far in Thailand have
dwelled on technical issues.

"I would really like the discussions to turn to what can we expect, what
are the real hazards?" Paige said.

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.

The report being debated this week stresses the world must quickly
embrace a basket of technological options - including investing in
energy efficiency, shifting away from coal and reforming the agriculture
sector - to avert the worst impacts of climate change.

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On the Net:

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: http://www.ipcc.ch