Brussels, 28/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol or a new protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)? To date, it is not known what legal form the comprehensive agreement will take on a binding climate regime to be concluded in Copenhagen in December during the 15th conference of parties to the framework convention (COP 15, 7-18 December).
This is because international negotiation (to be resumed in Bonn next Monday until 12 June) is taking place in two parallel ad hoc working groups on long-term cooperative action under the framework agreement, and on further commitments by industrialised countries under the Kyoto Protocol, for which the second period of commitments expires at the end of 2012.
To ensure that a legal form is adopted for the future climate agreement, the text of any proposed protocol or amendment needs to be submitted to the secretariat for the framework convention at least six months before the said agreement is concluded. In the case in hand, the deadline is 17 June.
The European Union does not have a preference for any one option but, in order not to rule out the fact that the future agreement might take the form of an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union will soon submit draft amendments to the protocol to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention. This, however, is without prejudice to the EU's final position in the negotiations on the text of the future international agreement.
The initiative, which comes under UN rules of procedure applicable to a legally binding climate agreement, was put forward by the European Commission in a communication adopted on 20 May [COM (2009) 249], on which the services of the EU Council are working.
On 3 June, EU27 ambassadors are expected, within Coreper, to endorse draft Council conclusions marking its agreement. Concrete amendments will be contained in annex. These conclusions will then be adopted without debate during a Council of Ministers.
To date, no-one has made a formal proposal for amending the Kyoto Protocol. Only the possibility of an additional protocol to the UNFCCC has been notified by Japan. The EU's proposals of amendment will allow the two legal options that can be envisaged for the Copenhagen Agreement to be kept on the table. (A.N./transl.jl)