With time running out for delegates at the UN-sponsored climate conference in Bali to sign a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's environment minister and a top EU official, has decided to get tough with Washington. The United States, along with Canada, Japan and Russia, has so far opposed efforts to reach a consensus on how to combat climate change post-2012 by refusing to accept a target range for the reduction of greenhouse gases.

Gabriel said that unless negotiations in Bali ended with a new landmark agreement, European nations would boycott US-led climate talks scheduled to take place in Honolulu next month.

"No result in Bali means no Major Economies Meeting," said Gabriel.

The US has invited 16 other "major economies" including the EU, Japan, China and India, to discuss a program of nationally determined, voluntary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, as opposed to the binding targets favored by the EU and others now meeting in Bali.

Reduction targets essential, Gabriel says

Delegates in Bali have been discussing calling for emissions cuts in the range of 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. Gabriel has described this target range as the "core" of the current negotiations. He said that from the EU perspective, any result from Bali that does not refer to scientific evidence for the need to cut emissions as outlined in a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change would be insufficient.

Although he criticized Canada, Japan and Russia for contributing to the current deadlock in Bali, Gabriel accused the US of posing the main obstacle to progress.

"They don't want to be seen as the blockade country, but they're not doing anything in order to come to a concrete result," the environment minister said.

In a telephone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, Dec. 13, Gabriel reportedly discussed the possibility of Merkel speaking directly with some of heads of state about the Bali conference, hinting that one of these would be US President George W. Bush. Bush and Merkel are known to enjoy a close working relationship.

Gore to push for breakthrough

Another hope for a breakthrough in the stalled climate talks has emerged in the form of Al Gore, who arrived in Bali on Thursday, just days after he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless crusade against global warming. The former US vice president is scheduled to address a side event and meet key players in the climate debate.

But whether Gore's star power can move things along in Bali is doubtful given the little time remaining for delegates to strike a deal. With less than a day left before the conference ends, UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said he was "very worried" about the slow pace of the negotiations.