John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
MONTREAL, Canada:
IN FORECASTING a rise in greenhouse gas emissions from developing countries, Jamaica and other members of the Group of 77 and China have submitted a proposal for the establishment of emission reduction targets for developing countries under the Kyoto Protocol.
INCREASED EMISSIONS
While expressing grave concern that greenhouse gas emissions from developed countries were increasing far beyond the levels emitted during 1990, the group, in its submission to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal, Canada.
In light of this forecast, Clifford Mahlung, who is part of the Jamaican delegation attending the conference, explained that the establishment of emission reduction targets for developing countries was necessary. He said reducing greenhouse emissions would not be effective without targets for developing countries too. The Group stated in the submission that it was "fully convinced of the need for Parties to cooperate in good faith to fully implement the provisions of the Protocol".
In addition to establishing targets for developing countries, the Group of 77 and China wants to fast-track discussions for the establishment of emission reduction guidelines and targets beyond 2012 when the current ones will expire. Jamaica currently chairs the group.
"The process should begin without delay and be conducted in an open-ended ad hoc group of Parties to the (Kyoto) Protocol," the recommendations said. The recommendations also suggested that this be completed by 2008 for possible adoption of the results at the fourth session of the next Conference of the Parties.
GUIDELINES AND TARGETS TO BE SET
The host country, Canada, has already expressed support for the start of discussions on the next set of guidelines and emission reduction targets.
"You need to be thinking about the future ... climate change is too important to wait," a representative from Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry said yesterday. The media are prevented from quoting names of civil servants at this time due to their Election Laws. Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government last Monday was toppled in a no-confidence vote carried by the three opposition parties in the House of Commons, the same day Canada opened the 10-day U.N. Climate Change Conference. National elections will be held next month.
BROAD DISCUSSION
Canada has indicated a preference for these discussions to be pursued under both the Kyoto protocol and the United Nations Framework of Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to include countries like the United States that are not signatories to the Protocol. "We really feel that we need to be doing both because we want to have as broad a discussion as possible," another representative from the Foreign Affairs Ministry explained. In light of the differences that exist with the Protocol, the Canadians said the discussions could be easier to pursue under the UNFCCC.
