Environmental ministers and officials from 60 countries will meet this week to discuss ways to combat the "greenhouse effect," which scientists believe threatens to change the world's climate.
The two-day conference, starting Monday and organized by outgoing Dutch Environment Minister Ed Nijpels, is expected to result in a final declaration on steps to reduce pollution of the atmosphere and the trend toward global warming.But last-minute reservations by the United States, Britain and Japan, threaten to deprive the conference of the hoped-for concensus on the final document. The reservations are based on different perceptions of the immediate danger posed by the "greenhouse effect" and the size and methods of reducing dangerous emissions.
The main agenda topic of the conference at the Dutch seaside resort of Noordwijk is a Dutch proposal to immediately freeze emissions of carbon dioxide at present levels. The ultimate aim is to reduce emissions by 20 percent by the year 2005.
Carbon dioxide, which is released by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, is seen as the main cause of the "greenhouse effect".
Some scientists say growing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevent gases from escaping into space creating a shield that result in global warming. Higher temperatures in turn melt polar ice caps and raise sea levels which lead to floods and severe droughts.
Reticence on the part of the United States, represented by EnvironmentalProtection Agency Director William Riley, to support the Dutch call for a 20 percent emission reduction was expected to keep other countries from joining the plan.
The United States accounts for almost 25 percent of the carbon dioxide emissiond in the world.
The United States, the United Kingdom and Japan are reluctant to promise firm measures which they fear will hamper economic development.
Britain and the United States have opposed putting specific deadlines on cutting emission levels saying there is not enough scientific data proving the direct relationship between such emissions and changes in the global climate.