Nairobi, 3 March 2006
--The launch of the compliance system for
the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, was
welcomed by Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director
of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP).
The United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) today announced
that the Protocol’s Compliance Committee,
complete with an enforcement branch and
facilitative branch, was operational.
The enforcement wing has the power to decide
on the consequences for countries encountering
difficulties in meeting their commitments
by 2012.
The other branch is designed to promote
compliance by offering countries advice
and assistance.
Mr Toepfer said: “Climate change is the
most serious challenge facing the world
and the Kyoto Protocol is the internationally
agreed mechanism for averting it”.
“Kyoto has many carrots including the chance
for developed nations to offset some of
their emissions in developing countries
through tree planting and renewable energy
schemes, up to participating in the emerging
carbon trading markets,” he said.
“With today’s announcement, the Protocol
also has teeth, as befits a legally binding
treaty. This in turn adds to the integrity
of Kyoto and its provisions, in particular
the credibility of the emissions trading
markets,” added Mr Toepfer.
He wished Ambassador Raúl Estrada
Oyuela of Argentina, chair of the Committee’s
enforcement branch, and Hironori Hamanaka
of Japan every success and a "not too
busy time”.
“The signs of climate change are all around
us, from the melting of the Arctic and the
glaciers up to extreme weather events and
the migration of species. I sincerely believe
that the world is no longer in any doubt
that climate change is real and that the
targets set under Kyoto are modest and doable—that
few if any will be bothering Ambassador
Estrada or Mr Hamanaka over the next six
years”.
