INTERVIEW-U.S. is main block at Bali climate talks -EU

By Gerard Wynn

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Dec 13 (Reuters) - U.S. opposition is the "one main blocking issue" preventing 190 nations in Bali from launching negotiations on a global climate pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol from 2013, the EU said on Thursday.

The Dec. 3-14 talks are finely balanced on what range of emissions cuts rich countries should aspire to as a guide for them in more detailed negotiations over the next two years on individual national emissions targets.

"We are a bit disappointed that all the world is still waiting for the United States," said Humberto Rosa, Portugal's Secretary of State for Environment. Portugal holds the rotating EU presidency and Rosa is the EU's chief negotiator at the Bali talks.

"The U.S. has been using new words on this -- engagement, leadership -- but words are not enough. We need action. (That's the) one main blocking issue," he told Reuters.

"We haven't heard a clear commitment from the U.S. that their effort will be of the same nature and level as other developed countries."

The EU wants governments in Bali to agree to a quantified target range for emissions cuts by developed countries. The EU has said it prefers a range of 25-40 percent greenhouse gas cuts by 2020 versus 1990 levels and that range remains in the latest draft Bali text published on Thursday.

Countries that have ratified Kyoto agreed in August that the range was a useful pointer for developed countries. The United States has refused to ratify the protocol and has resisted any agreement of specific emissions reduction goals in Bali.

"We need a range because that's what we think is compatible with what science is telling us, and science is telling us something of urgency and of commitment," said Rosa.

When asked if the 25-40 percent range was negotiable, he said: "That's yet to be seen. The range must be compatible with what science, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) tells us."

Another blocking issue at the Bali talks has been how much money rich countries should put on the table to help poor nations adapt to climate change already happening and to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

"We didn't come to Bali with a cheque that we're ready to give to adaptation, to technology right now. That's what I call the unrealistic part of it. We want to reach 2009 with a very clear and concrete action pattern on technology transfer and adaptation."

The United Nations wants countries to agree on a successor to Kyoto during a meeting in Copenhagen in late 2009. -- For Reuters latest environment blogs click on: blogs.reuters.com/environment/ (Editing by David Fogarty)