Last edited Mon Dec 28, 2015, 11:46 AM - Edit history (1)
Kerry was the only person from the US Congress who went to the conference because to do so meant spending as much time flying there as in meetings due to Congress still being in session.
In both House and Senate hearings, the Bush team thanked Kerry for his work before the conference and during it. ( Here is something from the House - http://republicans.globalwarming.sensenbrenner.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=2570 )
The need to include both developed and developing countries and to treat them differently was something that came out of that conference. The hope was with a Democratic President (or McCain) the US might be more helpful in the upcoming Copenhagen conference. In fact, Copenhagen was not a big success.
Back on DU2, I wrote this about his work at Bali -
Global warming: Kerry was the Congressional delegation to Bali. Though the media gave little attention to this - Kerry was praised in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by the Bush administration for the work he did there. The President’s chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, James Connaughton, spoke before the SFRC hearing chaired by Senator Menendez. Mr. Connaughton was part of the President’s delegation who attended the second week of the Bali Conference. Because of the Senate schedule, Senator Kerry flew 40 hours round trip to spend 36 hours as the sole US Congressional representative to the conference. At a SFRC hearing earlier this year, Mr. Connaughton, who represented President Bush said:
“I would particularly also want to call out thanks to Senator Kerry for coming to Bali. I would note that the remarks he gave in Bali were very constructive in helping to educate the international community on the needs, what it would take for America to move forward together in a bi-partisan way. I thought those remarks were very well received. Senator Kerry, thank you for that.”
Listening to the hearing, the Senator is praised for his leadership on this issue by both Republicans and Democrats.
http://www.senate.gov/~foreign/hearings/2008/hrg080124p.html
Here was even stronger praise from an earth day SFRC hearing: Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat (around 4 minutes in) said:
"The fact that we had a treaty was significantly due to the fact that Senator Kerry was there. He was a virtual part of our negotiating team, without his day and night support and lobbying of the EU. we would not have gotten a treaty.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/karynnj/19
(The Senate link no longer works - likely because the SFRC has redone the site many times!)
Here is Kerry's speech on the Bali conference given after he returned -- and you can see that there are roots of what grew to be the current agreement in the Bali meetings. https://www.americanprogressaction.org/wp-content/uploads/events/2007/kerry.pdf
As you can see from the speech, Kerry wanted the Bush administration to do more, but he then speaks of what was gained.
[div class= "excerpt"]
But still, despite this Administration’s reluctant participation, the “Bali roadmap” does
mark real progress toward a post-Kyoto vision. It lays out a process for future
negotiations, recognizes the importance of the four building blocks to fighting climate
change—mitigation, adaptation, financing, and technology—and most importantly shows
us a path to reach a final agreement in Copenhagen in 2009. It’s up to us to make that
path productive.
This is the first time we have a truly global road map with a role for developed and
developing countries alike. The most important question that will determine the future of
climate change is how we give life to the words “shared but differentiated
responsibility.” The dynamics of Kyoto have changed. In Kyoto people stiff-armed that
discussion. Now it can no longer be shunted aside. In fact, one of the most important
talks I had was with the Chinese delegation, whom I also met with in Kyoto and in
Brazil. Each time, they refused to engage. This time was different and, I believe, a cause
for optimism.
https://www.americanprogressaction.org/wp-content/uploads/events/2007/kerry.pdf
It is not unlikely that the US/China pact that Kerry was instrumental in starting was - likely helped by the relationships Kerry had developed with the Chinese negotiators at Bali and other places.
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