Mind the gap: UN sets out Kyoto plan B

Christiana Figueres

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has set out a contingency plan detailing options for members if they fail to commit to a new pledge before the existing Kyoto protocol expires.

The note which was published this week, focuses on the legal options open to the group, in a bid to ensure that no gap arises between the first period, ending 31 December 2012 and a subsequent commitment.

Suggested solutions include changing the commitment so all parties automatically sign up except those which actively opt-out, or extending the existing period.

The Kyoto Protocol, introduced in January 2008, is the only existing legally binding international agreement to verify emission reductions. Under the current rules, three quarters of the parties involved, or 143, must agree to new targets by 3 October 2012. However time is quickly running out for parties to sign up.

Individual nations need to accept ratifications internally as well as with the UN, which is likely to take “a considerable amount of time", says the note.

Speaking to reporters today, UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres called on every developed country to raise their emissions reduction targets and said the group’s top priority is to resolve the issue of a potential gap between the current Kyoto protocol and the next one.

“To progress, governments must also have a more serious conversation about the Kyoto Protocol[ ...] Governments need to address divisions over a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, not least for clarity on the future of the carbon market.”