Inconclusive Climate Talks End With No Agreement
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, November 26, 2000 (ENS) - The climate
summit has come to an end without an agreement on the means of
limiting six greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
The only agreement made by the environment ministers and other
representatives from countries around the world is to keep
talking.
They will reconvene in 2001.
The delegates from the 184 nations that are Parties to the United
Nations climate change treaty were attempting to strengthen that
treaty by getting agreement to implement the Kyoto Protocol to
that treaty.
The Formal Plenary session of the delegates decided late Saturday
to suspend the talks, formally known as the 6th Conference of the
Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (COP-6).
It is now certain that COP-6 Part II will take place next year,
probably in late May and early June.
In a final informal Plenary session for government ministers and
other senior officials, COP-6 president and Dutch environment
minister Jan Pronk announced that final efforts to seek consensus
have concluded without agreement.
Pronk acknowledged that he was extremely disappointed and said
the meeting had not lived up to expectations from the outside
world.
Following Pronk's speech, high level negotiators from key
countries involved in these talks provided their assessments of
events, noting the complexity of the issues and the excellent
work of Pronk himself.
Although disappointed, many pointed to progress made during
talks, and expressed the hope that a meeting next year could
result in a better outcome.
In their speeches, the U.S. and European Union negotiators noted
that the key outstanding issues include sinks, compliance and
supplementarity.
While delegates in Kyoto agreed to emissions reductions targets
and methods, it was left for subsequent meetings to decide on
most of the rules and operational details that will determine how
these cuts are achieved and how countries’ efforts are measured
and assessed.
Although many countries have signed the Protocol, the majority
are waiting until these operational details are negotiated before
deciding whether or not to ratify.
To enter into force, the Kyoto Protocol must be ratified by 55
Parties to the UN climate change treaty, including Annex I
Parties representing at least 55 percent of the total carbon
dioxide emissions for 1990. Currently only 30 Parties have
ratified the Protocol.
The negotiators said the COP-6 II will aim to complete work on
negotiating texts and adopt a comprehensive and balanced package
of decisions on all issues.
They also requested president Pronk to make proposals for the
further development and consideration of texts and seek advice
before the resumed meeting takes place.
Finally, the delegates urged Parties to intensify political
consultations among themselves.
In the plenary session Friday, the Youth delegate from Tanzania
informed the conference that the group of young people here has
taken the initiative to form a network, the World Youth
Organization on Climate Change.
The purpose of the network is to promote public awareness among
youth on climate change and to take initiatives on energy saving
and promotion of renewable energy forms, including at the
community level. She said the network will be partially Internet
based, and will hopefully reach hundreds of millions of young
people around the world.
Motivated by concrete action the young people are asking to be
involved in the climate change negotiation process in the future,
as members of delegations on a permanent basis.
BACKGROUNDER ON THE UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS
(Information provided by Earth Negotiations Bulletin, a service
of the International Institute for Sustainable Development)
Climate change is considered to be one of the most serious
threats to the sustainability of the world's environment, human
health and well-being, and the global economy. Mainstream
scientists agree that the Earth's climate is being affected by
the build-up of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, caused
by human activities, including electricity generation,
agriculture and transportation. Despite some lingering
uncertainties, a majority of scientists believe that
precautionary and prompt action is necessary.
The international response to climate change took shape with the
development of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC).
Agreed to in 1992, the UNFCCC sets out a framework for action to
control greenhouse gas emissions. Its aim is to stabilize
atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at a level that
would prevent human induced actions from leading to "dangerous
interference" with the climate system.
The UNFCCC entered into force on March 21, 1994, 90 days after
the receipt of the 50th ratification. It has now received 184
instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
Since it entered into force, five meetings of the Conference of
the Parties (COP) have taken place, as well as numerous workshops
and meetings of the UNFCCC's subsidiary bodies - the Subsidiary
Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for
Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA).
THE KYOTO PROTOCOL
The Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate, established by the first
Conference of Parties (COP-1), met between 1995 and 1997 to reach
agreement on a further step in efforts to combat climate change.
Following intense negotiations, delegates to COP-3, which was
held in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, agreed to a Protocol to
the UNFCCC that commits developed countries and countries making
the transition to a market economy to achieve quantified targets
for decreasing their emissions of greenhouse gases.
These countries, known under the UNFCCC as Annex I Parties,
committed themselves to reducing their overall emissions of six
greenhouse gases by at least five percent below 1990 levels over
the period between 2008 and 2012, with differentiated targets for
most of these countries.
The Protocol also establishes three mechanisms to assist Annex I
Parties in meeting their national targets cost-effectively. The
mechanisms include an emissions trading system, joint
implementation (JI) of emissions reduction projects between Annex
I Parties, and a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to encourage
joint projects between Annex I and non-Annex I Parties.
SOURCE: Environment News Service (ENS)
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