AIMING TOWARDS 'LEGALLY-BINDING OBJECTIVES'?

10:39 AM Jul 18, 1996

AIMING TOWARDS 'LEGALLY-BINDING OBJECTIVES'?
Geneva 18 July (Chakravarthi Raghavan) -- The Second Conference of Parties (COP2) of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) was presented Thursday with a 'Draft Ministerial Declaration' to instruct negotiators to work towards "quantified legally-binding" objectives for emission limitations and "significant overall reductions" within specific time-limits.

The Draft Declaration, hammered out among a contact group Wednesday night, moves the negotiations forward, will however not be adopted by the COP2, but probably will only be 'taken note of'.

Australia, among the developed (Annex I parties), as also a few others including Japan, are opposing any quantifiable targets requiring emission limitations and reductions.

A number of oil-exporting countries, as well as high coal consumption countries, are also opposed to an endorsement of the Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and its findings that anthropogenic activities are causing adverse climate change, and the observed global warming is due to human-activities.

As a result of the opposition of this influential, though small minority, the adoption of a declaration by consensus would be difficult and the COP2 may merely 'take note' of the Declaration, sources said.

The draft declaration was circulated to the COP2, at the end of the morning session devoted to statements of Ministers and Heads of Delegations, with the Chairman, Mr Chimutengwende of Zimbabwe, announcing that he would give time to delegations to reflect on it.

The draft declaration prepared by the 'friends of the President' and introduced in paragraphs on the negotiations would 'instruct' negotiators to accelerate negotiations on the text of a legally-binding protocol or another legal instrument to be completed in due time for adoption at COP3 (to be held in Japan in December next year).

The outcome of the negotiations is to fully encompass the remit of the Berlin Mandate, in particular,

- commitments for Annex I parties regarding

* policies and measures including, as appropriate, regarding energy, transport, industry, agriculture, forestry, waste management, economic instruments, institutions and mechanisms;

* qualified legally-binding objectives for emission limitations and significant overall reductions within specified timeframes, such as 2005, 2010, 2020, with respect to their anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal protocol;

- commitments for all Parties on continuing to advance the implementation of existing commitments in Art. 4.1;

- a mechanism to allow the regular review and strengthening of the commitments embodied in a Protocol or another legal instrument;

- commitments to a global effort to speed up the development, application, diffusion and transfer of climate-friendly technologies, practices and processes; in this regard further concrete action should be taken.

Several environment NGOs suggested while the draft, and merely 'taking note' of it is less than what the situation might demand, nevertheless it would keep things on course, and provide a political momentum.

The commitments under Art. 4.1, which applies to all countries, mainly relate to periodic updating and making available national inventories of GHG emissions, and sinks etc; national programmes to mitigate climate change; promoting the development, application and diffusion of technologies; promote sustainable management and conservation of sinks etc.

Other parts of the draft, would have COP2 "recognize and endorse" the IPCC's Second Assessment Report as "currently the most comprehensive and substantive assessment" of the science of climate change, its impacts and responses options now available.

It would also note the IPCC findings, in particular:

* the balance of evidence suggesting a discernible human influence on global climate and, without specific policies to mitigate climate change, a rise by 2100 of global average surface temperature by about 2 degrees celsius and average sea level rise by about 50 cms above present levels; and stabilization of atmospheric concentrations at twice the pre-industrial levels requiring global emissions to be less than 50% of current levels;

* that projected climate changes will result in significant, often adverse, impacts on many ecological systems and socio-economic sectors, including good supply and water resources, and on human health. In some cases with potentially irreversible changes, and with developing and small island countries more vulnerable; and

* significant reductions in GHG are technically possible and economically feasible by use of array of technology policy measures and significant no regrets opportunities.