Tiempo Climate Newswatch

First Meeting of the Kyoto Parties

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The First Meeting of the Parties (COP/MOP-1) to the Kyoto Protocol took place from November 28th to 10th December 2005 in Montréal, Canada, alongside the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP-11) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

With the Kyoto Protocol now in force, implementation issues that would make the most of the Kyoto provisions to 2012 were high on the agenda and there was considerable optimism, ahead of the meeting, that good progress could be made. There was less optimism, though, when it came to prospects for a post-Kyoto regime, at least with regard to the involvement of the United States.

"It will be very complex," said Elliot Diringer of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. "Any agreement has to be more flexible than Kyoto but at the same time has to deliver real cuts in emissions and the Bush administration is adamantly opposed to any process aimed at widening Kyoto." Jennifer Morgan of WWF International proposed that "developed countries should continue after 2012 with Kyoto-type commitments with ever deeper cuts, but developing countries should start with less strict goals." "The United States wants to block this process from starting," observed David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Look for the United States to use a variety of strategies to try to veto consensus," he said, such as lining up Middle Eastern OPEC countries and India in favour of voluntary approaches.

Negotiations on the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol did, in fact, prove successful. One major outcome was that rules for limiting greenhouse gas emissions under the Protocol were adopted. The Kyoto rules cover greenhouse gas accounting, investment in developing countries, emissions trading and other operational details.

Saudi Arabia attempted to block agreement on the provision on compliance with the Protocol commitments, arguing that implementing the compliance provision through an amendment to the Protocol itself would strengthen the compliance mechanism. Others considered the Saudi move an attempt to delay agreement on the deal and postpone the discussions on what do after the end of the Kyoto period in 2012. "They're trying to stop any discussion of what to do after 2012," accused Jennifer Morgan of WWF International. Eventually, it was agreed to "approve and adopt" the compliance mechanism as a MOP Decision, though the Saudi amendment to the Protocol will be considered at a later stage. The compliance system stipulates that any country that misses its target will have to make up the shortfall, and an additional 30 per cent penalty, during the next period. Emissions trading rights may be affected.

Following years of debate over the extent to which, and just how, the climate treaty process should support the process of adaptation, COP-11 saw the launch of a five-year work programme on this issue. "A certain degree of climate change is no longer avoidable", said Halldor Thorgeirsson, coordinator of the Climate Change Secretariat’s Methods, Inventories and Science Programme. "All countries need to adapt to the inevitable impacts. Developing countries will be hardest hit by those impacts and need the necessary assistance."

The aim of the adaptation work programme is to enhance capacity at the international, regional, national, local and sectoral levels:

• to identify and understand possible impacts and vulnerability and possible adaptation responses;
• to enable countries to select and implement practical, effective and high priority adaptation actions; and,
• to provide the Conference of the Parties and, as appropriate, its subsidiary bodies, with information and advice on issues relating to the scientific, technical and socio-economic aspects of impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, including by facilitating the implementation of decision 1/CP.10 [the Buenos Aires programme of work on adaptation and response measures], where relevant.

Other matters discussed in Montréal included technology (particularly carbon capture and storage), and strengthening the Kyoto mechanisms. The industrialized nations committed US$13 million to funding the Clean Development Mechanism over 2006-7 and the second Kyoto mechanism - Joint Implementation - was launched.

As he opened the ministerial meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin challenged the United States to participate fully in the climate treaty process. "Climate change is a global challenge that demands a global response. Yet there are nations that resist, voices that attempt to diminish the urgency or dismiss the science, or declare, either in word or indifference, that this is not our problem to solve. Well, let me tell you, it is our problem to solve," he said. He singled out the United States by name at a later press conference.

After a considerable amount of grandstanding, agreement was reached on the way forward, although it did take an extra day of negotiations. "This has been one of the most productive UN climate change conferences ever. Our success in implementing the Kyoto Protocol, improving the Convention and Kyoto, and innovating for tomorrow led to an agreement on a variety of issues. This plan sets the course for future action on climate change," concluded Richard Kinley, acting head of the climate treaty secretariat.

© 2005 Lawrence Moore

The major agreement reached in Montréal concerned the signatories to the Kyoto Protocol alone. This gives the Kyoto members seven years to negotiate and ratify accords on the post-2012 phase, extending the current emissions control commitments.

Following a parallel track, a broader group of nations, including the United States, has agreed to non-binding talks on future cooperation. This will be a global "dialogue", not restricted to the industrialized nations. Negotiations leading to new emissions control commitments are explicitly ruled out. According to the COP-11 Decision, the dialogue should, amongst other things, "identify approaches which would support, and provide the enabling conditions for, actions put forward voluntarily by developing countries that promote local sustainable development and mitigate climate change in a manner appropriate to national circumstances, including concrete actions to enable countries, in particular developing countries, to manage and adapt to climate change."

Further information
Additional information can be found on the host country website. Earth Negotiations Bulletin has published a summary of the outcome of COP-11 and COP/MOP-1. Webcasts of the formal proceedings and related events are available from the climate treaty secretariat and the host country websites.

On the Web
The Tiempo Climate Cyberlibrary lists websites related to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

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