Isra-Mart srl: EU attempts to salvage Kyoto Protocol

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The EU is reportedly working on a compromise package of proposals designed to end the deadlock between developing and industrialised nations over the future of the Kyoto Protocol.

A senior EU official told influential newswire Point Carbon News that diplomats are working on a plan that would see Kyoto extended beyond its current expiration date of 2012, on the understanding that it is then allowed to lapse in 2018 to be replaced by a new global pact.

European environment ministers are expected to consider the new plan when they meet in October to finalise the EU's formal negotiating period ahead of the next UN climate summit in Durban at the end of the year.

"It's not a formal EU position yet, although it is something that has gained ground in recent months," the source told Point Carbon News, adding that the compromise agreement would allow countries to maintain the legal framework for Kyoto-backed carbon trading schemes such as the Clean Development Mechanism, without ratifying a full second period for Kyoto.

The future of the Kyoto Protocol is expected to again prove one of the most contentious elements of the Durban Summit.

At last year's Cancun Summit, diplomats clashed over proposals to extend the Protocol beyond 2012, after Japan, Russia and the US all signaled they would not sign up to a second commitment period for the controversial treaty, arguing that a replacement agreement was required that imposes emissions targets on all nations.

Developing countries countered by insisting that the extension of the Kyoto Protocol was non-negotiable as it currently represents the only legal mechanism requiring industrialised nations to curb their emissions.

The on-going deadlock over the future of the protocol has fuelled fears that the agreement will be allowed to lapse at the end of 2012, removing the legal framework for carbon trading schemes such as the UN-backed Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) offsetting scheme, which allows industrialised nations to fund emission reduction projects in developing countries.

The EU's aim is to break the deadlock by temporarily extending Kyoto's legal framework, at the same time as setting a firm deadline for the negotiation of an alternative international treaty supported by all nations.

A spokeswoman for the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change refused to be drawn on the on-going EU negotiations, but hinted that work to find a suitable compromise agreement over the future of the Kyoto Protocol was continuing.

"The UK, together with the EU, has already stated it is willing to consider a second commitment period beyond 2012 for the Kyoto Protocol provided it is in the context of a wider outcome involving all major economies," she told BusinessGreen. "However, this would have to be part of an interim step towards a legally binding global deal."

The proposals are likely to receive a mixed response from green businesses and NGOs, many of which are fearful that the long-running climate change negotiations could collapse without any formal agreement in place post-2012, but are equally concerned that another compromise deal will simply delay the urgent action required to deliver deep cuts in global emissions.

The news comes just a day after South Africa downplayed the prospect of a formal treaty being agreed in Durban, warning that the summit was more likely to deliver only incremental progress.

In a speech delivered yesterday, foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said that compromises would have to be reached in order to move the negotiations forward and accelerate support for those countries suffering the most from climate change impacts.

She also warned that South Africa was under pressure from other developing countries to protect their right to continue to accelerate development efforts, at the same time as curbing emissions.

"People need to eat," she said. "People need sustainable jobs for survival."