Friday, 5
November
"Humanity
will not forgive us if we fail" - UNFCCC COP-5 President
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With a warning that "humanity will not forgive us if we fail" President
Jan Szyzsko of Poland brought the fifth Conference of the Parties to a
close Friday. The Conference was marked by what the UNFCCC Executive Secretary,
Michael Zammit Cutajar, described as an "unexpected mood of optimism".
He said the Parties now face their own 'Y2K challenge': namely the achievement
of a successful COP-6 where Parties adopt key decisions mandated by the
Buenos Aires Action Plan and move to early entry into force of the Kyoto
Protocol.
Ministers and officials
from 166 governments concluded two weeks of climate change negotiations
that centered on enabling decisions and a timetable for completing the
outstanding details of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol by COP-6 from 13-24 November
2000 in the Hague. A number of countries, echoing German Chancellor Gerhard
Schröder's call at the opening Plenary, are seeking early ratification,
possibly by the tenth anniversary of the 'Earth Summit' (UNCED) in 2002.
The NGO community played a key role in lobbying governments, at home and
at the COP, to adopt the 2002 deadline. The Hague COP will be preceded
by two one-week rounds of talks in the two subsidiary bodies, from 12-16
June and from 11-15 September. Each session will be preceded by one week
of informal talks and workshops.
Executive Secretary Zammit Cutajar, commenting after the close of the
COP, said: "The political atmospherics were good - better than expected.
The engagement of ministers made a difference, and there were some encouraging
technical decisions. The Protocol will only enter into force and become
legally binding when at least 55 countries, including developed country
Parties accounting for at least 55% of developed country emissions, have
ratified. To date only 16 countries - all from the developing world -
have ratified. Eighty-three countries and the European Union have taken
the initial step of adding their signature to the agreement.
COP-5
defers decisions on Kazakhstan and Turkey
At the closing meeting of COP-5 President
Jan Szyszko reported that he had failed to find a consensus among
the Parties on a number of outstanding issues during consultations he
conducted during the Conference. The unresolved issues include Kazakhstan's
proposed amendment to add its name to the list in Annex l. The decision
was deferred. He reported reluctance among the Parties to put a decision
to the vote at this stage. Kazakhstan
acknowledged proposals that it use UNFCCC Article 4.2(g) as an alternative
approach to taking on Annex I commitments. The President also deferred
a decision on a proposal to remove Turkey from the lists in Annex I and
Annex II. Right: Irina Yesserkepova, Scientific and Research Institute
for Environment and Climate Monitoring, and Bulat Esekin, National Environment
Center for Sustainable Development, Kazakhstan.
Small
Island States deeply disappointed at deferral of COP's consideration of
UNFCCC Article 4.2 (a) and (b) on adequacy of commitments
The President's consultations also failed to find agreement on an Agenda
Item (#5) dealing with the UNFCCC Article on the Second Review of the
Adequacy of Commitments. The Item was left in abeyance after the G-77/China
proposed amending the Item to read: "Review of the adequacy of implementation
of Article 4.2 (a) and (b)." The amendment will be recorded in a footnote
in the Provisional Agenda for COP-5.
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The Alliance of Small Island States expressed deep disappointment
at the President's decision. Espen Rønneberg, on behalf of AOSIS, said
the Article was a central consideration and integral to the balance of
the Convention. AOSIS' concern had been made more serious by the absence
of a procedure to deal with the issue. He continued: "The absence of such
a procedure does not release the Annex-I Parties from their obligations,
nor does it excuse the COP from its constitutional duty to carry out this
review. AOSIS is disappointed that we are not seeing adequate or even
demonstrable progress in terms of long-term emissions trends and towards
the objective of the Convention. Further delay in taking action will make
our prospects for survival even more tenuous ."
The G-77/China amendment
sought to address concerns about the implications for developing countries
if some Parties concluded that the current commitments in Article 4.2
(a) and (b) is inadequate due to its limited scope i.e. they apply only
to Annex I Parties. The amendment would have succeeded in shifting the
terms of reference for the debate on Article 4.2 (a) and (b) from a focus
on 'adequacy of commitments' per se to a debate on the historical performance
of Annex I Parties in implementing their commitments. Right: The G-77/China's
Allison Drayton, Guyana, waves her flag to attract the President's attention
The
European Union acknowledged that the commitments contained in Article
4.2 (a) and (b) are not enough to meet the ultimate objective of the Convention.
She said Article 4.2 (d) provides a mechanism for regular review, by which
the distance between commitments and the ultimate objective of the Convention
can be measured and appropriate action taken. She added: "The EU would
like to point out that the question of actual implementation falls under
the review covered by Article 7.2, and not under the review of Article
4.2 (a) and (b). It is our view therefore, that the question whether Parties
are meeting - or will meet - present commitments needs to be kept separate
from whether the commitments themselves are adequate."
Note: RealVideo of statements made in Plenary are available from the Video
Archive of the UNFCCC's Video-on-demand
service
Closing
Plenary |
Michael
Zammit Cutajar, UNFFCCC Executive Secretary announces the appointment
of Tahar Hadj-Sadok as UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary and the
retirement of Sally Ottone, Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary.
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Tahar
Hadj-Sadok, UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary |
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Zammit
Cutajar with Sally Ottone, outgoing Special Assistant to the
Executive Secretary |
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COP
President Jan Szyszko gavels COP-5 to close at 12:50 p.m. In his
closing remarks, the President said: "Humanity will not forgive
us if we fail."
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