"Our atmosphere can’t tell the difference between emissions from an Asian factory, the exhaust from a North American SUV, or deforestation in South America or Africa"
Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General
Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia: High level negotiations on climate change effectively start today as 144 ministers and high-level government representatives along with 6 heads of state gather in Bali, as part of the United Nations Climate Change Conference -Bali, 2007.
The conference is expected to launch negotiations on a new global deal on climate change.
Opening this high-level segment of the conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told participants that the grim projections made by the scientists of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) this year, including rising sea levels, more frequent and less predictable floods and severe droughts, meant the “the time to act is now.”
Calling climate change “the moral challenge of our generation,” the UN Secretary-General said “the eyes of the world” were on negotiators meeting in Bali. “Succeeding generations depend on us,” he said. “We cannot rob our children of their future.”
Kevin Rudd (left), Prime Minister of Australia, hands over the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the Bali conference. (Photo: UN)
The gathering is the largest UN climate change meeting ever held and will be attended by 11,000 people.
It is the thirteenth Conference of the 192 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the third meeting of the 176 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
Kyoto Protocol
The adoption of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 was a major step forward in tackling the problem of global warming. However greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels continued to rise around the world and it became increasingly evident that only a firm and binding commitment by developed countries to reduce emissions could send a signal strong enough to convince businesses, communities and individuals to act, according to the UN.
After two and a half years of intense negotiations, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted on 11 December 1997. This moved affairs forward from a state of “encouragement” to that of “commitment” by developed countries, to stabilize GHG emissions under the Protocol. The detailed rules for implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh in 2001, and are referred to as the “Marrakesh Accords.”
The Kyoto Protocol is considered to be the most far-reaching agreement on environment and sustainable development ever adopted as it affects all major sectors of the world economy. However, the UN says that any treaty not only has to be effective, it must also be politically acceptable.
Most of the world’s countries eventually agreed to the Protocol, but some nations chose not to ratify it. However, following ratification by Russia, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005.
The Protocol requires developed countries to reduce their GHG emissions below levels specified individually in the Treaty. The targets must be met in the period between 2008 and 2012. The UN says that these add up to a total cut in GHG emissions of at least 5% against the 1990 baseline.
The Protocol recognises that developed countries can more easily pay the cost of cutting emissions and also that they have historically contributed more to the problem by emitting larger amounts of GHGs per person than in developing countries.
Flexibility is the key to meeting national emission reduction targets, so the Protocol developed three "innovative mechanisms" - Emissions Trading, Joint Implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The UNFCCC says that these market-based mechanisms allow developed Parties to the Protocol to earn and trade emissions credits through projects undertaken in other developed countries or in developing countries. Developing nations also benefit in terms of technology transfer and investment brought about through collaboration with industrialised nations under the CDM, according to the UN.
Clear policy
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer spoke of the need to translate the IPCC’s science into clear policy. "Business is ready to move into the low-emissions era, but needs the appropriate policy framework from governments to do so,” he said. Ministers could do this by launching formal negotiations at Bali, agreeing on an ambitious agenda and setting 2009 as the deadline for negotiations.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said there was an emerging consensus on the building blocks of a climate agreement and that a new deal must be comprehensive, involving all nations.
He said that developed countries needed to “continue to take the lead on curbing emissions” and stressed the importance of acting globally, whilst providing incentives for countries, businesses, and individuals to act on climate change.
“ Our atmosphere can’t tell the difference between emissions from an Asian factory, the exhaust from a North American SUV, or deforestation in South America or Africa,” he said.
Further information
For further information visit the United Nations Climate Change Conference web site.
For biographical information on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon visit
http://www.un.org/sg/biography.shtml