Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 126: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has had contact with his US counterpart regarding the failure of the US to ratify the Kyoto Protocol; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13516/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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EU international policy on climate change is determined through close co-ordination between all member states and the European Commission, and a common EU position is presented externally. The EU continues to engage with the United States on a range of climate change issues, despite the latter's decision not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

Since my appointment as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, an appropriate opportunity to discuss climate change policy with my counterpart from the US Administration has not arisen. My predecessor met with representatives from the United States before and during Ireland's Presidency of the EU in 2004. At these meetings, he emphasised the EU position that it expects the United States to play a full part in global efforts to tackle climate change.

Following on from the Kyoto Protocol coming into effect on 16 February 2005, the focus of the international climate change agenda has moved on to the measures to be taken in the next phase, after the Kyoto commitment period ends in 2012. It is important that the United States engage constructively in the international negotiations on the post-2012 objectives and that they take comparable measures to those being taken by the rest of the developed world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reductions. This is the message that I will bring to any future meeting with representatives of the United States Administration.