By Ramesh Jaura
BONN, Jun 8 (IPS) - Officials from more than 160 countries gather
here next Monday to pave the way for a global political deal that
will ensure clean air, efficient transport and waste management.
Officially known as intergovernmental climate change talks, the
five-day discussions will be followed by a fresh round in
September in Lyon, France.
The two gatherings are intended to "set the stage for a
comprehensive deal in November," said Michael Zammit Cutajar, the
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Zammit Cutajar was referring to the Sixth Session of the
Conference of Parties to the Convention (COP 6), which has been
set for Nov 13-24 in The Hague, Netherlands.
Negotiations beginning next Monday are considered important, as
the deadline under the Plan of Action is the Hague meeting.
"I hope that a successful agreement at The Hague will trigger the
ratifications necessary to bring the Kyoto Protocol into force by
2002. This would put developed countries on the path to
meeting their Kyoto emissions-reduction targets," Zammit Cutajar
told IPS.
"The Hague outcome must also support developing countries in
their efforts to take further action under the Climate Change
Convention," he added.
Although adopted in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol has not yet entered
into force. Decisions on ratifying it are awaiting agreement on
just how the Protocol will operate in practice.
After finalising the Kyoto rulebook in The Hague, many
governments expect to be in a position to ratify the Protocol,
explained the UNFCCC Executive Secretary.
If fully implemented, the Kyoto Protocol would lead to a
collective reduction of five percent in greenhouse gas emissions
from developed countries compared to 1990 levels by the period
2008-2012.
On the other hand, if these countries took no control measures
their emissions would be expected to increase by 18 percent
between 1990 and 2010.
Zammit Cutajar said the Convention, as well as the Protocol, also
promise to motivate and empower developing countries to address
the climate change challenge through sustainable development.
"The urgency of finalising the arrangements surrounding the
Protocol and cementing the global partnership between developed
and developing countries cannot be overstated," he added.
"Not only do we continue to see record warm temperatures around
the world, but emissions from developed countries continue to
grow. If these countries are to show demonstrable progress in
controlling emissions by the year 2005, as the Protocol states
they must, and then hit their targets in subsequent years, they
cannot afford to delay action."
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol will enter into force 90 days after it
has been ratified by at least 55 Parties to the Convention,
including developed countries and those with economies in
transition representing at least 55 percent of the total 1990
carbon dioxide emissions from this group.
The US accounts for 36.1 percent of these emissions, the European
Union 24.2 percent and Russia 17.4 percent.
The Protocol has been signed by 83 governments (plus the European
Commission) and, as of mid-May, 22 countries -- all from the
developing world -- have completed the next step of ratification
Many of the issues on the agenda of the Bonn meetings involve
making the Protocol both operational and environmentally
credible.
According to a UNFCCC background paper, a great deal of
methodological work is needed to make the accounting for national
emissions and emissions reductions more rigorous and comparable
from country to country.
A particular concern is the accounting for forestry "sinks", in
which new trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus
offsetting emissions. The regime to monitor and address
compliance with Protocol commitments is also a key issue.
The Protocol's three "flexibility mechanisms" need to be
finalised in a way that makes credible their contribution to
emissions reductions.
Under the Protocol, the use of the Clean Development Mechanism,
Joint Implementation and emissions trading is to be supplemental
to domestic action.
The rulebook for operating these mechanisms has yet to be
written, and a debate over whether or not there should be a
ceiling for applying credits from these mechanisms to national
targets must be resolved.
Other agenda items relate to the 1992 Convention. They include
ongoing consultations on the development and transfer of
technology, the special concerns of developing countries that
are particularly vulnerable to climate change or to the economic
consequences of emissions reductions by developed countries.
On the agenda is also the review of the second national
communications from developed countries -- these reports contain
an inventory of national emissions data and describe efforts to
implement the Convention.
Progress in receiving and analysing national communications from
developing countries, and analysis of the financial mechanism,
the Global Environment Facility, and national policies and
measures for addressing climate change are also on the
agenda.(END/IPS/raj/sm/00)
SOURCE: Inter Press Service (IPS)
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