A Call to Action

By Yu Shujun

To continue or die out? Thats the question facing the Kyoto Protocol, which sets binding emission reduction targets for developed countries, as the first phase of the protocol will come to an end on December 31.

The fate of the 15-year-old Kyoto Protocol will be decided by participating governments at the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar.

Formally known as the 18th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Eighth Session of the Conference of the Parties Serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP18/CMP8), the conference started on November 26 and is scheduled to conclude on December 7.

At the opening ceremony, newly elected President of the COP18/CMP8 Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Chairman of Qatars Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, urged the conference to stick to established timetables and speedily implement already agreed-upon decisions.

The Doha conference should prioritize the implementation of previous consensus, which includes completing negotiations on the 2007 Bali Action Plan, adopting and implementing a legally binding second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and offering support to developing countries in terms of funding, technology transfer and capacity building, said Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, at a conference unveiling a document titled Chinas Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change 2012 in Beijing on November 21. Protocol appeared to have been settled at the Durban conference last year, but issues related to its implementation will be heatedly discussed at the Doha conference, said Su Wei, Chinas chief climate change negotiator, in a Doha media briefing.

According to a UN press release, key issues under the Kyoto Protocol that must be decided include: the length of the second commitment period and how to convert targets into so-called “quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives”—the units of binding reduction commitments, as well as how to carry over unused emission credits of economies in transition into the second phase of the protocol.

It will be very difficult to set a mechanism aiming to raise emission reduction targets for developed countries in the next few years, Su said.

At the Doha conference, governments also need to decide which elements of the Bali Action Plan have been achieved, what additional decisions can be taken and which elements may need to be further addressed.

Unresolved issues include how to apply the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities,” how to manage intellectual property rights in the transfer of technology, and how to avoid setting trade barriers in the name of coping with climate change, said Su.

Negotiations on the Durban Platform will spark a fierce debate. Last year in Durban, governments decided to reach a universal climate change agreement covering all countries from 2020, to be adopted by 2015. This was a compromise coming out of the extended hours of debate at the Durban conference.

Some countries have moved away from the Bali Action Plan negotiations and switched their focus to the Durban Platform, which started this year, according to the Climate Change Green Paper 2012 released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on November 21.

Consensus on some basic concepts and principles of the Durban Platform should be reached at the Doha conference, Su said.

If developed countries try to make the platform a brand-new table for climate talks in which the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” is void, those moves will go against the consensus reached at the Durban conference, he said.

Funding concerns will present another problem. According to the Copenhagen Accord in 2009, developed countries should raise $30 billion from 2010 to 2012 as fast-start finance.

“The fast-start finance will be due by the end of 2012, and 2013 is still unfunded,” said Su.

High expectations

The relentless amount of carbon emissions released by developed countries in their in- dustrialization process over the past 200 years have raised the density of greenhouse gases, which is the main cause of climate change. Thus, they should shoulder major responsibilities, Su said.

“While sustainable development and poverty eradication remain urgent challenges and overriding priorities in our developing countries, we are already taking ambitious actions to reduce emissions,” said Su when delivering the Statement by China on behalf of Brazil, India, South Africa and China at the opening plenary of the COP18. “As affirmed by many academic reports of highly reputed international organizations, our mitigation contribution is much greater than that by developed country parties.”

“Developing countries continue to do their part through all means available to them, but more could be done through the facilitation of appropriate technology, capacity building and financing,” said the statement by Venezuela on behalf of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America. “Developed countries have to be more ambitious, not less.”

If a group of Annex I Parties to the UNFCCC (mostly developed countries) can lead with a level of ambition that is consistent with what the best available science requires, this will inspire others to do the same, according to the statement delivered by Nauru on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States.

The African Group said in its statement that it would like to have a decision on how to handle finance in the period between 2012 and 2020.

In its statement on behalf of the least developed countries, Gambia also hopes that a decision can be made in Doha to annually scale up developed countries public finance contributions from $30 billion to a minimum of $100 billion per year from 2013 to 2020.

Although the lingering debt crisis has affected financial support from developed countries, “the key issue lies with their sincerity and understanding of their responsibilities,” Su told the media.

Chinas Expectations

The Doha Climate Change Conference should yield results in the following four areas:

Making definite arrangements for the implementation and enforcement of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and ensuring that the second commitment period is implemented in a timely fashion on January 1, 2013. This will be the most important outcome of the Doha Climate Change Conference

Making further substantial progress on the issues of concern to all developing countries, such as mitigation, adaptation, funding, technology transfer and capacity building. Developed countries, in particular, should fulfill their promises to reduce emissions and provide support in terms of funding, technology transfer and capacity building, and ensure that the alreadyestablished mechanisms and institutions start substantial work and play a substantial role in offering support to developing countries in coping with climate change

Making proper follow-up arrangements for issues left unsettled in the Bali Action Plan, such as fairness, trade and intellectual property rights, in order to successfully complete talks on the Bali Action Plan

Fully exchanging views on issues relating to the continued enforcement of the UNFCCC after 2020 and align the process of the Durban Platform negotiations with the Bali Road Map negotiations in order to lay a solid foundation for further negotiations