| |
Debate
Ban on torture: Europe’s responsibility
EU consensus: overdue but incomplete
Kenya: the president’s defeat
Climate protection: Kyoto progress
01/2006 |
|
[ Comment ]
Climate protection: Kyoto progress
The Montreal climate conference showed that the Kyoto process is moving forward – despite widespread criticism and the obstructive attitude of US President George W. Bush. The conference brought no great breakthrough but several steps in the right direction. It started, among other things, a two-year dialogue that will include emerging economies in climate protection.
[ By Bernd Brouns ]
The eleventh session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Montreal (COP 11) simultaneously served as the first-ever meeting of the 157 parties to the Kyoto Protocol, which is now in force. The long standstill since 1997 is over. Canadian Environment Minister Stéphane Dion, who hosted COP 11, successfully set an agenda of “three ‘I’s”, which stood for “implementation, improvement and innovation”.
Montreal set final signals for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. A detailed “rulebook” had been agreed on in 2001 in Marrakesh but it needed to be formally adopted by the Kyoto parties – something they duly did despite some criticism before the event. The Protocol is now fleshed out with rules and guidelines for trading emissions permits and an agreement on how to deal with failure to meet obligations. The conference also kick-started a capacity-building programme to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change. Talks on funding for such measures, however, were postponed.
The conference also addressed the issue of improving the climate regime. The focus was on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which allows rich countries to earn credits for their own emission reduction commitments by investing in climate protection in poor countries. For instance, the CDM executive board’s funds were increased to speed up approval proceedings. Similarly, agreement was reached on charging money for emission certificates in order for the CDM to become financially self-supporting by 2008. Current geographical imbalances – so far, CDM projects have largely been confined to a few big emerging economies – should also be gradually corrected.
The third major issue addressed in Montreal (innovation) was how to proceed after 2012, when the first Kyoto commitment period will end. A dual approach was adopted. First, a new working group was set up to discuss industrial nations’ commitments under the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012. Second, conference president Dion launched an initiative involving all signatories of the Framework Convention, thus including Kyoto-rejectors United States and Australia.
However, the prospect of achieving a binding negotiating mandate was minimal from the outset, because the US administration, according to which the Kyoto Protocol is fundamentally flawed, also refused to discuss the post-2012 period. In the end, a two-year “dialogue on long-term cooperative action to address climate change” was started.
Although it does not explicitly aim for binding commitments, this dialogue should be seen as a meaningful and useful initiative. It includes emerging and developing nations in international climate protection and its non-binding character could help build the trust needed for further negotiations. Such negotiations could then be conducted under the Kyoto Protocol, whose effectiveness is scheduled to be reviewed from 2006 onwards.
There are mounting signs that a number of developing countries will play constructive roles. Even though the governments of the G77 and China rejected Kyoto-style binding commitments, some of the big emerging economies – including Mexico, South Africa and Argentina – have displayed openness to talks on more vigorous engagement.
If such an engagement were to materialise, the chances of the United States joining the multilateral drive to protect the climate would rise again. A number of US states, cities and corporations are already active players. The appearance of former President Bill Clinton in Montreal was another sign of growing interest. But there is no cause for complacency. The Kyoto club needs to forge ahead in the years to come. To quote one conference participant from the USA: “If you want to engage the US you have to ignore the Bush administration.”
Bernd Brouns
works for the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. A detailed report by the Institute on the Montreal climate conference is published on the internet at: http://www.wupperinst.org/COP11/english.html
bernd.brouns@wupperinst.org
|
