COP 17: A renewed Kyoto Protocol must be our primary focus, says UK MInister

The British Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, Gregory Baker, has called on nations to focus on a renewed Kyoto Protocol rather than a new climate deal, after conceding that a new and more extensive climate treaty is slipping further away.

With no signs of progress stemming from the pre-COP 17 conference in Panama, slow economic growth and a global debt crisis, expectations of a new legally binding arrangement in Durban have reached rock bottom.

“The reality is, we're not going to be able to agree a global, binding treaty at Durban,” Gregory Barker told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Mumbai.

“The reality is, it's unlikely we will be able to do that next year either, and probably not the year after that. But what we should do is start agreeing that is where we need to get to, and put in place a framework that allows us to get there in a realistic timetable. We need a global treaty before the end of the decade,” said Barker.

Last week, the International Energy Agency warned the 200 COP member nations that if unified action to mitigate emissions could not be agreed by 2017, then it would be too late to limit global warming temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius. The International Energy Agency also said that the greenhouse emissions from burning coal, oil, gas and deforestation reached an all time high in 2010.

“We are certainly open to the renewal of the Kyoto Protocol. But if we are going to have a (second period), we will need to see movement toward a larger solution. We won't get a global treaty unless all of the key players are engaged,” added Barker.

The problem with the current Kyoto is that only developed nations were asked to contribute which, given the rapid expansion of countries like China and India, is no longer a viable way to lower emissions sufficiently. The USA never signed the Kyoto agreement and several other countries including Canada, Russia and Japan have indicated they will not sign up to a new deal.

The 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Durban, South Africa, from 28 November to 9 December 2011.

 

Images 01 & 02: Climate Action Stock Photos