Annan welcomes Bonn agreement on Kyoto Protocol rules

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the broad political agreements reached in Bonn by the 180 members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on the operational rulebook for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which sets legally binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan said the breakthrough gave a "strong signal" to the global economy that emission limitation must become part of production and consumption processes. The new agreements recognize the need for more financial and technological support for developing countries to engage in a global strategy against climate change, and provide a solid political basis for industrialized countries to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and bring it into force in time for the Johannesburg Summit in September 2002, the statement said.

"The Secretary-General appreciates the hard work and spirit of compromise shown by all delegations and the unflinching leadership of Mr. Jan Pronk, Conference President," the statement said.

In a statement issued today in Bonn by the Framework's Secretariat, Michael Zammit Cutajar, Executive Secretary of the Convention, said the agreement would keep up the pressure for early emission reductions by governments and the private sector in the developed world. The next step, he added, will be for developed countries to ratify the Protocol so that it can enter into force as quickly as possible - preferably by next year.

The Sixth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention had been suspended last November in The Hague, but resumed in Bonn last Monday, with the four-day high-level segment opening on 19 July. The Protocol will enter into force after it has been ratified by at least 55 Parties to the Convention, including industrialized countries representing at least 55 per cent of the total 1990 carbon dioxide emissions from this group. So far, 36 countries have ratified it, including one industrialized country (Romania).

According to the agreement, a special climate change fund and a fund for least developed countries will be established under the 1992 Convention to help developing countries adapt to climate change impacts, obtain clean technologies, and limit the growth in their emissions. In addition, a Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund will be established to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes.

The Bonn Conference, which is being attended by some 4,500 participants from 180 countries - will continue through 27 July and start the process of translating the agreement into more detailed legal decisions.

"It should also strengthen financial and technological support to developing countries to enable them to take action on climate change," he added, noting that the next step will be for developed countries to ratify the Protocol so that it can enter into force as quickly as possible - preferably by 2002.

The Sixth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention had been suspended last November in The Hague, but resumed in Bonn on 16 July, with the four-day high-level segment opening on 19 July. The Protocol will enter into force after it has been ratified by at least 55 Parties to the Convention, including industrialized countries representing at least 55 per cent of the total 1990 carbon dioxide emissions from this group. So far, 36 countries have ratified, including one industrialized country (Romania).

Under the agreement, a special climate change fund and a fund for least developed countries will be established under the 1992 Convention to help developing countries adapt to climate change impacts, obtain clean technologies, and limit the growth in their emissions. In addition, a Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund will be established to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes.

One of the most difficult issues to resolve was how much credit developed countries could receive toward their Kyoto targets through the use of sinks, which absorb carbon from the atmosphere. The meeting agreed that the eligible activities will include revegetation and the management of forests, croplands and grazing lands. Individual country quotas were set; the result is that sinks will account for only a fraction of the emissions reductions that can be counted towards the Kyoto targets.

The Bonn Conference, which is being attended by some 4,500 participants from 180 countries - will continue through 27 July and start the process of translating the agreement into more detailed legal decisions.