PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
EU to consider second commitment period of Kyoto Protocol
Cancun, Mexico (PANA) - The European Union (EU) reiterated here Thursday that it is willing to consider a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.
Peter Wittoeck, from the EU, told reporters at the on-going UN Climate Change conference in Cancun, Mexico, that the EU would support the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which is due to expire in 2012.
''We are willing to consider as endorsed by our heads of state and government a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol,'' Wittoeck said.
Japan has come under attack here after it declared that it will not support the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.
Some civil society groups claim that the rejection of legally-binding targets set out in the Protocol, which hold countries and, through them their industries and corporations, accountable for their emissions is the motivation for Japan's decision not to support the second commitment.
The Kyoto Protocol sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas emission. These amount to an average of five percent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.
Wittoeck said the EU had been making substantial efforts to reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the past years and had
complied with the commitments set out in the Kyoto Protocol.
He noted that many countries had made proposals to reduce their emissions but that the challenge in Cancun was to make
these proposals a focal part of the UN negotiations, and that there was a need for a formal approach to be able to discuss these proposals as well as strengthen overall levels of ambition targets.
''What we are aiming for in Cancun is a decision that will start the process or a decision that will anchor the proposals that have been
made into the formal process,'' Wittoeck said.
Meanwhile, the WWF - formerly World Wide Fund for Nature - has said the Cancun outcome needed to explicitly recognise
the shortfall in action to cut emissions to safe levels and protect people and the planet from climate impacts.
Leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative Gordon Shepherd said countries needed to formally adopt the emission cut pledges made in Copenhagen last December and agree how to measure, report and verify these actions.
-0- PANA MM/SEG 2Dec2010
Peter Wittoeck, from the EU, told reporters at the on-going UN Climate Change conference in Cancun, Mexico, that the EU would support the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which is due to expire in 2012.
''We are willing to consider as endorsed by our heads of state and government a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol,'' Wittoeck said.
Japan has come under attack here after it declared that it will not support the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.
Some civil society groups claim that the rejection of legally-binding targets set out in the Protocol, which hold countries and, through them their industries and corporations, accountable for their emissions is the motivation for Japan's decision not to support the second commitment.
The Kyoto Protocol sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas emission. These amount to an average of five percent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.
Wittoeck said the EU had been making substantial efforts to reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the past years and had
complied with the commitments set out in the Kyoto Protocol.
He noted that many countries had made proposals to reduce their emissions but that the challenge in Cancun was to make
these proposals a focal part of the UN negotiations, and that there was a need for a formal approach to be able to discuss these proposals as well as strengthen overall levels of ambition targets.
''What we are aiming for in Cancun is a decision that will start the process or a decision that will anchor the proposals that have been
made into the formal process,'' Wittoeck said.
Meanwhile, the WWF - formerly World Wide Fund for Nature - has said the Cancun outcome needed to explicitly recognise
the shortfall in action to cut emissions to safe levels and protect people and the planet from climate impacts.
Leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative Gordon Shepherd said countries needed to formally adopt the emission cut pledges made in Copenhagen last December and agree how to measure, report and verify these actions.
-0- PANA MM/SEG 2Dec2010
