A high-level discussion on the role of the Kyoto Protocol’s flexible mechanisms was held at Columbia University in New York, US, on Thursday, 9 October 2008. The event took as its theme, “The Kyoto Mechanisms: Key to Combating Climate Change?”
Much of the two-hour event involved a discussion between Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. These two key speakers and other experts debated the merits of the Kyoto mechanisms and carbon taxes in reducing greenhouse
gas emissions.
The aim of the discussion was to help focus attention on market-based mechanisms, carbon taxes and other policies and measures being considered by policy makers and negotiators working to establish a framework to address climate change. The deadline for a new international agreement has been set for December 2009, when delegates will gather for a major UN conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The event at Columbia University was organized by the Earth Institute and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). Nearly one hundred and fifty people were in attendance, and others viewed and participated in the event via live webcast, with the speakers fielding questions from web participants in Canada, Kenya and Rwanda.
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