Inveresk managing director Stefan Kay has branded the breakdown of the latest United Nations climate change conference as "terribly disappointing".


The sixth Conference of the Parties (COP) failed to reach agreement on legally binding reductions in greenhouse gasses after 12 days of talks.



Kay, also chairman of the Confederation of European Paper Industries' (CEPI) environment committee, said: "My instinctive reaction is that it was largely caused by the US taking a very severe stance. We could have made very real progress."



Kay said the participants in the conference would have to "go away and do some serious thinking".



CEPI presented a report on climate change from the perspective of the paper and forest industries to the UN conference at The Hague.



"We as an industry have to continue to clean up
our act, but we look very positively at the role we play," said Kay.



"It's not just a case of growing trees. A major reason for Methane is
rotting material, part of which is paper, so recycling is important. It's a very effective clean up tool for pollution and removing carbon dioxide.



"The real issue is that there are a lot of people in the US unconvinced about global warming. Five or six years ago I would have been with them, but there's a general change in climate we really have to address."



The CEPI environment committee meets today (1 December). "It's a normal meeting, but Kyoto and the COP will certainly be on our agenda," added Kay.


Story by Gordon Carson.