Enigin Update - COP17 Legal Climate Treaty Agreement
THE UN climate talks in South Africa have been heralded a success after a climate change deal was struck in the early hours of Sunday morning.
194 parties have spent the past two weeks in Durban discussing how to cut emissions to limit global temperature rise to below two degrees to avoid dangerous climate change.
In a major realignment of support, well over 120 countries formed a coalition behind the EU's high ambition proposal of a roadmap to a global legally binding deal to curb emissions.
African states together with the least developed countries such as Bangladesh and Gambia, and small island states vulnerable to rising sea levels, like the Maldives, joined with the EU to put forward a timetable which would see the world negotiate a new agreement by 2015 at the latest.
The talks resulted in a decision to adopt the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol next year in return for a roadmap to a global legal agreement covering all parties for the first time. Negotiations will begin on the agreement early next year.
Energy efficiency and renewables lie at the heart of many strategies to combat climate change, hence the energy saving industry, including Enigin Distributors, will continue to have a major role but now with greater global support. Enigin Distributors are using cutting edge energy efficiency technology from Enigin to help organisations and businesses to reduce their energy demand and CO2 emissions.
UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said: "This is a significant step forward in curbing emissions to tackle global climate change. For the first time we've seen major economies, normally cautious, commit to take the action demanded by the science.
"The EU's proposal for the roadmap was at the core of the negotiations and the UK played a central role in galvanising support. This outcome shows the UNFCCC system really works and can produce results. It also shows how a united EU can achieve results on the world stage and deliver in the UK's best interests.
"There are still many details to be hammered out, but we now need to start negotiating the new legal agreement as soon as possible and there are still many details to be hammered out."
Also the conference agreed to get the Green Climate Fund up and running, this will help deliver financial support to developing countries to reduce emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) called the COP17 agreement “good news” to hold talks on the new agreement, recently the agency gave a stark warning in a report on the need for urgent action.
The IEA's chief economist Fatih Birol said: ''The good news is for the first time, we have a road map that is supported and signed by all the governments. However the question mark I have in my mind is, I hope this road map wouldn't lead some of the countries not to act for the next 10 years or to act inefficiently which would be ... closing the door.''
Chair of the EU Parliament delegation to the summit Jo Leinen commented, “The world has achieved a major breakthrough in the fight against climate change. The EU deserves credit for drawing up a roadmap for all nations to respond to their relative responsibilities.
Vice-Chair of the EU Parliament delegation, Karl-Heinz Florenz, added, “The EU’s climate diplomacy has worked. The world has changed and it is right to define developing and developed countries according to the new realities.
“I welcome that China has shown it wants to take on new responsibilities and play a new role in the world. We all need to intensify our efforts because much remains to be done.”
Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda said of the outcome, “I welcome the series of decisions adopted at COP17. This meeting has brought the significant outcome, in line with Japan's stance, such as clarifying the pathway to the establishment of a new legal framework in which all economies participate.”
Picture of COP17 from UNclimatechange reproduced under CCL.
