"The officials from around the world who will gather in South Africa on Monday to convene the latest round of U.N. climate negotiations are facing an uncomfortable fact: The global pact that has dictated greenhouse-gas targets since 1997 may no longer be relevant.
The mandatory targets of the Kyoto Protocol cover less than a third of the world’s carbon output. Major emitters are not bound by it. And, increasingly, the world is relying on a patchwork of measures rather than a universal treaty to lessen the impacts of global warming.
The Kyoto agreement won’t die altogether in Durban; it may be extended for another five years without binding commitments from industrialized nations while programs for international carbon offsets are preserved as a way to compensate for emissions.
Delegates to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change will focus largely on technical details, such as how to administer a future fund to help poor nations adapt to global warming and how to transfer clean technology to developed nations.
But the debates over concrete policies to cut greenhouse-gas emissions over the next decade are happening in places such as the Australian Parliament and California’s Air Resources Board."
Juliet Eilperin reports for the Washington Post November 27, 2011.
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SEE ALSO:
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"Another Try for a Global Climate Effort" (New York Times)
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"China Says "Not Optimistic" About Climate Talks" (Reuters)
"China: 'Extend Kyoto Protocol'" (China Daily)
"China, India Hold Up Agreement To Curb HFCs" (Washington Post)
"Small Coffee Farmers Hoping for a Wake-Up Call at Climate Talks" (Irish Times)
"Deadlock Looms Over CO2 Cuts as Durban Summit Begins" (Independent)
"Pope Calls for Responsible, Credible Climate Deal That Takes Into Account World’S Poorest" (AP)
"Durban Climate Conference -- Crunch Time On Climate Change" (Huffington Post/WWF)
"UK Calls for New Legal Climate Deal By 2015" (BBC News)
"Rich Nations Accused of Climate-Change 'Bullying'" (Independent)
"UN Climate Official Hopes Conference Will Take Long-Delayed Decision on Cutting Pollution" (AP)
"Climate Change Hits Africa's Poorest Farmers" (AP)
"China Records Biggest Reduction in Emissions" (Xinhua)
"Agriculture Orgs Up Pressure Ahead of Durban Climate Talks" (Wall St. Journal)
"Durban Climate Talks: There Is a Feasible Plan B To Combat Climate Change" (Guardian)
"UN Climate Conference Opens in South Africa" (Voice of America)
"Q&A: Durban COP17 Climate Talks" (Guardian)
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