Post-Kyoto negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions

The Kyoto Protocol, the world's first treaty to attempt to address global warming by limiting greenhouse gas emissions, is due to expire at the end of 2012. Although the treaty only came into force on February 16, 2005, post-Kyoto negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions began in earnest at the meeting of the G8+5 Climate Change Dialogue in February 2007.^[1] Working in parallel, various bodies under the umbrella of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are also meeting to prepare the ground for a new agreement.^[2]

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February 2007 Washington Declaration

In the non-binding 'Washington Declaration' agreed on February 16, 2007, Presidents or Prime Ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa agreed in principle to a global cap-and-trade system that would apply to both industrialized nations and developing countries, which they hoped would be in place by 2009.^[1][3]

Official G8+5 Climate Change Dialogue Web site

33rd G8 summit

  On June 7, 2007, leaders at the 33rd G8 summit issued a non-binding communiqué announcing that the G8 nations would 'aim to at least halve global CO₂ emissions by 2050'. The details enabling this to be achieved would be negotiated by environment ministers within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in a process that would also include the major emerging economies. Groups of countries would also be able to reach additional agreements on achieving the goal outside and in parallel with the United Nations process.^[4] The G8 also announced their desire to use the proceeds from the auction of emission rights and other financial tools to support climate protection projects in developing countries.^[4]

The agreement was welcomed by British Prime Minister Tony Blair as 'a major, major step forward'.^[5] French president Nicolas Sarkozy would have preferred a binding figure for emissions reduction to have been set.^[6] This was apparently blocked by U.S. President George W. Bush until the other major greenhouse gas emitting countries, like India and China, make similar commitments.^[7][8]

Official G8 Web site

2007 UN General Assembly plenary debate

As part of the schedule leading up to the September UN High-Level-Event, on July 31 the United Nations General Assembly opened its first-ever plenary session devoted exclusively to climate change, which also included prominent scientists and business leaders.^[9] The debate, at which nearly 100 nations spoke, was scheduled to last two days but was extended for a further day to allow a greater number of 'worried nations' to describe their climate-related problems.^[10]

In his opening speech, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Member States to work together, stating that the time had come for 'decisive action on a global scale', and called for a 'comprehensive agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process that tackles climate change on all fronts, including adaptation, mitigation, clean technologies, deforestation and resource mobilization'.^[11] In closing the conference General Assembly President Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa called for an 'equitable, fair and ambitious global deal to match the scale of the challenges ahead'.^[10] She had earlier stressed the urgency of the situation, stating that 'the longer we wait, the more expensive this will be'.^[11]

The day after the session ended, the UN launched its new climate change web site detailing its activities relating to global warming.^[12]

Official UN web site

2007 Vienna Climate Change Talks and Agreement

A round of climate change talks under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded in Austria in 31 August 2007 with agreement on key elements for an effective international response to climate change. ^{[13] [14]}

A key feature of the talks was a United Nations report that showed how energy efficiency could yield significant cuts in emissions at low cost.

The talks are meant to set the stage for a major international meeting to be held in Bali in December.

September 2007 United Nations High-Level-Event

Alongside the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is to hold informal high-level discussions on the post-Kyoto treaty on September 24. It is expected that these will pave the way for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, being held in Bali in December 2007.^[15] Three Special Envoys on Climate Change, appointed on May 1, 2007,^[16] are holding discussions with various governments to define and plan the event.^[15]

In advance of the 'High-Level-Event', the Secretary-General hoped that world leaders would 'send a powerful political signal to the negotiations in Bali that “business as usual” will not do and that they are ready to work jointly with others towards a comprehensive multilateral framework for action'.^[17]

Official UN Web site

September 2007 Washington conference

It emerged on August 3, 2007, that representatives of the United Nations, major industrialized and developing countries are being invited by George Bush to a conference in Washington on September 27 and 28.^[18][19] Countries invited are believed to include the members of the G8+5 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa), together with South Korea, Mexico, Australia, Indonesia and South Africa. The meeting is to be hosted by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and is envisaged as the first of several extending into 2008. Initial reaction to the news of the conference invitation was mixed.^[20]

2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference

Main article: 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference

Negotiations on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol dominated the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference conference. A meeting of environment ministers and experts held in June called on the conference to agree a road-map, timetable and 'concrete steps for the negotiations' with a view to reaching an agreement by 2009.^[21]

2008 United Nations Climate Change Conference

The 2008 conference will be held in December 2008 in Poznán, Poland.^[22]

2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference

The 2009 conference is slated to be held in December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark,^[23] and the treaty succeeding the Kyoto Protocol is expected to be adopted there.^[24]

See also

• Action on climate change
• Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change
• Tragedy of the commons
• List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions
• List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita
• List of countries by greenhouse gas emissions per capita
• List of countries by ratio of GDP to carbon dioxide emissions
• Low-carbon and post-carbon economies
• Plug-in hybrid

References

Policy options

• An International Policy Architecture for the Post-Kyoto Era, S Olmstead & R Stavins, AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, 2006
• Governing Climate: The Struggle For A Global Framework Beyond Kyoto, Taishi Sugiyama (editor), International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2005
• Imagining a Post-Kyoto Climate Regime, Prof. Adil Najam, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 2005
• An analysis of a post-Kyoto climate policy model, K Anderson & A Bows, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, 2005
• International Climate Efforts Beyond 2012, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, 2005