UN climate-change talks in Bonn prepare for post-Kyoto treaty

UN climate-change talks in Bonn prepare for post-Kyoto treatyBonn, Germany  - Around 3,000 participants from around the world are converging in Bonn for UN climate change talks on Monday, the first in a series of meetings culminating in December to sign off on a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol.

At the 12-day gathering in Germany, world governments are to consider an ambitious new draft UN treaty, containing a broad range of options to stem global warming.

Three further climate-change meetings are scheduled this year, ahead of the December event in Copenhagen, where the successor to Kyoto is to be formally adopted.

Yvo de Boer, executive director of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), released a draft document on May 20, though many details remain to be agreed.

The UNFCCC is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

The draft document, which forms the basis of the Bonn talks, suggests that developed countries must reduce carbon emissions by 75 to 95 per cent by 2050, measured against 1990 levels.

These goals are guidelines only, as states have not yet agreed on targets to be reached by 2020.

The draft treaty further sets the first-ever targets for developing nations to reduce the carbon emissions blamed for global warming.

Emerging economies such as India and China would have greater leeway, aiming for 25-per-cent reductions by 2050, measured against a later baseline of 2000.

Developing countries are demanding assistance with financing, technology and capacity building to stem climate change, requirements that will likely feature in negotiations before final targets can be incorporated in the new treaty.

Emerging economies are taking a two-pronged approach, seeking developed-world assistance in both mitigation efforts and help to adapt to the natural damage caused by climatic changes.

Key to the success of this year's talks is the role of the United States, which never ratified the Kyoto protocol. The US has signalled it could support the next treaty as long as China and other developing economies are also called to task.

Alongside China, the US is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, commonly linked to climate change.

The new US adminstration under President Barack Obama has taken a lead role in the fight on climate change and has made initial recommendations on emissions reductions.

However, these targets are far below those set by other countries and fail to meet scientifically backed recommendations by environmental groups.

Analysts expect the Bonn talks to provide little more than initial convergence on key areas, leaving much to be settled in national, international and intergovernmental forums ahead of December's meeting in Copenhagen. (dpa)