Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Kyodo News

Climate negotiators from about 30 countries and international organizations began exploring ways Monday to advance talks on a new framework to combat climate change beyond 2012.

At a two-day meeting in Tokyo, working-level participants at the Informal Meeting on Further Actions against Climate Change, cochairs Japan and Brazil will lead discussions on how to build on the failed Copenhagen Accord, and move toward the next meeting in Mexico, scheduled for late November.

In his opening remarks, Japanese Ambassador for Global Environmental Affairs Akihiko Furuya said that although he recognizes there are "mixed feelings" about the outcomes of the Copenhagen talks, negotiators "should not underestimate what we achieved last year."

"The Copenhagen Accord provides a valuable stepping stone toward the ultimate goal of agreeing on a comprehensive legal document. Based on last year's achievements, we should continue to move forward with renewed resolve," he said.

The climate talks in the Danish capital last December failed to adopt the Copenhagen Accord, which was brokered by 26 key economies, with delegates merely signing off on a nonbinding political agreement due to opposition from countries that complained about the closed-door drafting process.

Furuya said countries "really have to be serious about improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the negotiation and decision-making process" and consider how they "can operationalize those related paragraphs in the Copenhagen Accord."

So far, more than 100 countries have voiced support for the accord, and they are responsible for more than 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The accord calls on developed countries to set national targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions for 2020, and for developing countries to take concrete action to mitigate climate change.

Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, head of environmental affairs at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, said countries should address "how best to incorporate the needs, requests and complaints of those who felt they were not heard in Copenhagen."

The Brazilian envoy, who is cochairing the Tokyo meeting with Furuya, also stressed the need to recover confidence that was lost in the Copenhagen meeting to achieve success.

Global climate change talks are aimed at replacing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, as that agreement is set to expire in 2012.

Since China and the United States, the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, are not part of the Kyoto pact, Furuya said Tokyo's position is that the "simple amendment of the Kyoto Protocol is definitely not sufficient as the post-2012 framework."

We welcome your opinions. Click to send a message to the editor.