KYOTO PROTOCOL TALKS IN BUENOS AIRES TO PROMOTE EMISSIONS CUTS

Press Release
ENV/DEV/486

KYOTO PROTOCOL TALKS IN BUENOS AIRES TO PROMOTE EMISSIONS CUTS

BUENOS AIRES, 2 November (UNFCCC) -- Ministers and other senior officials from some 180 governments are meeting here from 2 to 13 November to pave the way for reducing greenhouse gas emissions as required by the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"The Kyoto Conference on the Climate Change Convention was a high-profile event because, for the first time, industrialized countries adopted emission-reduction targets that are legally binding", said Michael Zammit Cutajar, the Convention's Executive Secretary. "In Buenos Aires, governments will try to establish the rules of the game for reaching these targets."

"These rules are critically important because they will affect the economic costs of cutting emissions over the next decade, as well as the debate on future commitments for both developed and developing countries", he added. High on the Buenos Aires agenda is the need to flesh out the Protocol's three "mechanisms". These mechanisms are intended to help developed countries reduce the costs of reaching their combined 5 per cent emission-reduction target by the five-year period 2008 to 2012.

The operational details of these schemes -- viewed enthusiastically by some, sceptically by others -- must still be worked out. If these details cannot be finalized in Buenos Aires, then Governments will try to agree on a schedule for completing them in the near future.

Under the Protocol, an international "emissions trading" regime will allow developed countries that reduce emissions beyond their agreed target to sell the excess emissions credits to others. A key area of debate is whether there should be a concrete ceiling on how many credits a country can buy or sell. Another is the concern that certain countries will be able to meet their targets with minimal efforts and could sell large quantities of emission credits (known as "hot air") to others, reducing pressure on some industrialized countries to make domestic cuts.

A "Clean Development Mechanism" will enable industrialized countries to finance emissions-avoiding projects in developing countries and receive credits for doing so. This will be an important new avenue through which Governments and private corporations can transfer and promote clean

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technologies. "Joint implementation" will also provide credit for investments in projects, but only in other developed countries. Reporting rules, comparable methodologies, and project guidelines must still be established.

The Buenos Aires Conference will also review progress under the 1992 Climate Change Convention. It will work on devising practical steps for promoting the transfer of climate-friendly technologies to developing countries. Decisions are also needed on the role of the Global Environment Facility in financing Convention-related activities, the guidelines by which developing countries will provide information on their greenhouse gas emissions and national climate change programmes, and the actions needed to minimize the adverse impacts on developing countries of both climate change and policies to limit emissions.

Another outstanding issue from Kyoto is that of "sinks", notably forests, which by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere help to reduce net emissions. After heated debate, certain sinks were included in the Kyoto targets, but there are still methodological problems with how to measure their contribution.

Many developing countries resist formal commitments, even if voluntary, that would put upper limit on their emissions, noting that their per capita emissions are still low compared to those of developed countries. Nevertheless, the host Government of Argentina has requested that an item on voluntary commitments be placed on the fourth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP-4) agenda; this issue is likely to generate some of the most intense debate of the meeting.

Because Kyoto generated so much public attention and press coverage, it convinced many industries that they will soon face real pressure from national Governments to reduce emissions. Many are already committed to being proactive. Governments now need to maintain momentum and make their Kyoto target credible by formulating and publicizing national policies and goals.

However, the Kyoto agreement will only become legally binding when at least 55 countries, including developed countries accounting for at least 55 per cent of developed country emissions, have ratified. It is hoped that this will happen by 2001.

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