28/11/2005
- Montreal, Canada – Governments meeting in Montreal for
the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol must start
negotiations to set commitments for lower greenhouse gas
emissions after 2012, says WWF. The
global conservation organization warns that the impacts
of climate change are hitting home already and negotiations
at this level take time. As part of the Kyoto process,
WWF says that negotiations must start now and 2008 has
to be set as the clear end date for this process.
“The Kyoto Protocol actually demands
that negotiations start now, not later,” said Jennifer
Morgan, director of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme.
“There has to be a formal decision and commitment by countries
to negotiate more action and commitments for the future
in order for people and nature to have a chance to avoid
the worst impacts of climate change.”
In Montreal, industrialized countries
must signal their willingness to reduce emissions much
further and some developing countries must demonstrate
their willingness to do their “fair share.” What that
fair share is should be the topic of negotiations launched
in Montreal and completed by 2008.
Delegates in Montreal who are attending
the 11th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the first Meeting of
the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (held 28 November to
9 December) must see that the emissions trading market
is currently a business reality but investors need more
certainty about its future.
Companies, banks and business are
already working with emissions trading instruments, but
current emissions targets only reach 2012. WWF warns that
this is too short a horizon for investment decisions.
“If companies are to make the switch
from dirty fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives they need
to know that their CO2 emissions will be counted as a
business cost after 2012,” said Stephan Singer, head of
WWF’s European Climate and Energy Policy Unit.
“If there’s one thing businesses and
markets hate it’s not knowing what’s going to come in
the future. The current climate of uncertainty is doing
nobody any favours”.
WWF says that governments attending
the meeting must ensure that all decisions are adopted
to make Kyoto operational and that funding is provided
to help developing countries manage existing impacts.
All the decisions to make Kyoto work
have already been negotiated but must now be formally
adopted by the Kyoto Parties at this first meeting in
Montreal. In addition, some States pledged funding to
help developing countries manage the impacts that are
already occurring and prepare for worse. This funding
must be delivered.
“Governments must deliver on their
promise to assist those countries most vulnerable to climate
change in managing the impacts already occurring,” added
Jennifer Morgan. “Only if such promises are kept will
developed countries have any credibility with key developing
countries.” |