The president of the sixth Conference of the Parties of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change urged Japan and other U.S. allies Monday to be independent in setting their positions for international talks on climate change.
"I do not think it would be wise for countries to make their participation to an agreement dependent on the American participation in the agreement," Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk told Kyodo News in an interview.
U.S. President George W. Bush the same day rejected the 1997 international pact on global warming as "fatally flawed" and called for an alternative requiring the participation of developing countries and more science-based solutions.
Doubts have been expressed about whether traditional U.S. allies such as Australia and Canada, as well as Japan, are positive about trying to reach a comprehensive agreement at the resumed session of COP6 in Bonn, Germany, between July 16 and July 27.