05 WHAT’S ON THE TABLE AT DURBAN? D U R B

Following the failure of the 15th Conference ofParties (CoP 15) at Copenhagen to deliver afair, equitable, ambitious and binding treaty needed to protect the climate, not much was expected out of CoP 16 at Cancun, Mexico. In fact, many believed that the multilateral process of negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) would end at Cancun. This didn’t happen, and COP 16 will be remembered for restoring the faith of the world in multilateral negotiations. But it will also be remembered for the triumph of process over content. Cancun Agreement, which was signed by all countries except Bolivia, has many loopholes and has left many issues open-ended. These issues will have to be resolved at Durban. The second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol What will happen to the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and its second commitment period will be the most contested issue at Durban. Under the Cancun Agreement, the discussions on the second commitment period of KP were permitted to move forward, with a view to having its results adopted ‘as early as possible and in time to ensure that there is no gap between the first and second commitment periods.’ The first commitment period of KP ends in 2012. To avoid any gap between the first and second commitment periods and therefore to maintain the integrity of KP, the decision on the second commitment period will have to be taken in Durban. Durban, therefore, will decide whether KP survives or not. The problem is there is no consensus among the countries on KP