Bali quotes

NHK World: Japan's Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita has expressed appreciation following the adoption of the Bali road map. Mr Kamoshita told reporters that he is satisfied that a basis has been established from which all countries can negotiate. He said he is especially happy that the US has expressed its intention to join the discussions in 2 years. Mr Kamoshita also said there will be a tough road ahead and that he hopes to promote international talks ahead of the G8 Summit scheduled for July in Hokkaido, northern Japan.

Wall Street Journal: In a dramatic finish to a U.N. climate conference, world leaders adopted a plan Saturday to negotiate a new global warming pact by 2009, after the U.S. backed down in a battle over wording supported by developing nations and Europe. The U.S. stand had drawn loud boos and sharp floor rebukes -- "Lead, or get out of the way!" one delegate demanded -- before Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky reversed her position, clearing the way for the adoption of the so-called "Bali Roadmap."

BBC: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he appreciated "the spirit of flexibility" shown by key delegations - and was aware that "there is divide of position between and among countries". "But as this global warming is an issue which affects the whole humanity, whole planet earth, we must have co-ordinated and concerted efforts to address this issue," Mr Ban said.

TT (Sweden): Sweden's environment minister, Andreas Carlgren, was delighted that an agreement was reached. "This means that the US is involved in climate negotiations. The US has now clearly said that it wants to reduce emissions by 2050, which is a very important statement," he said. "This is an enormous breakthrough for climate negotiations. It is also important that China, India and other developing countries have gone as far as they have and are now prepared to work for emissions cuts. If this is followed through properly it could be a historic episode," Carlgren said.

My five cents? Not much to cheer about, except that as oil prices continue to rise due to peak oil, businesses and consumers are already changing the way we think about oil consumptions. After the G8 meeting Japan in 2008, we can look forward to talks in Copenhagen ( a very bicylce-friendly city) - the venue for the next UN climate conference in 2009.

More updates at Environmental Defence: What's at Stake