Rulebook of Kyoto Protocol finalized

The United Nations conference on climate change taking place now in Montreal has adopted most of the rulebook for the Kyoto Protocol on Wednesday, which will make the protocol "fully operational."

The 34 signatory countries -- which do not include the United States or Australia -- passed the final regulatory measures by consensus at the Montreal conference. "The Kyoto protocol is now fully operational. This is an historic step," said conference chairman Stephane Dion, Canada's environment minister.

The rules, known as the Marrakesh Accords, specify measures needed to put the protocol into effect, including how greenhouse gas emissions are measured and how targets for emission reduction are set until 2012 and beyond.

The countries attending the conference also produced a mechanism called the "clean development mechanism." Under the mechanism, developed countries can invest in one another, in particular central and east European countries, and thus earn carbon allowances which they can use to meet their emission reduction commitments. In addition, the clean development mechanism also allows industrialized countries to invest in sustainable development projects in developing countries and also earn carbon allowances.

"With these decisions in place, we now have the infrastructure to move ahead with the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol," said Richard Kinley, acting head of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat. "It sets a solid basis for future steps to bring emissions down." Kyoto was negotiated in 1997, seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 5 percent until 2012, compared to 1990 levels, and formally entered into force on February 16, 2005. However, it could not come into operation until after the formal adoption of the rulebook, which was drawn up over the past four years.

The signatories also hammered out a mechanism for trading pollution rights. A separate system setting out sanctions for those who breach the protocol should simultaneously be adopted before the 12-day conference ends on December 9.

The European Environment Agency said this week that the 15 "old" member states of the bloc are likely to cut emissions to just 2.5 percent compared to 1990 levels, according to the BBC. With emissions in most member states still on the rise, this figure falls short of the targeted 8 percent cut for the EU under the Kyoto protocol in 2012. In a major policy shift, UK prime minister was set to reveal in a speech last Tuesday that Britain may open new nuclear power plants in a bid to reach emissions targets, as well as to secure the country’s energy provision. The European Climate Change Programme led to the adoption of a range of new policies and measures, among which the EU’s emissions trading scheme, which started its operation on January 2005.

The United States and Australia, which refused to ratify the protocol to the UN framework convention on climate change, attended Wednesday's session as observers. The United States, with five percent of the world's population, emits 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. Harlan Watson, head of the US delegation, said Americans did not want an approach that includes objectives or a timetable to reduce emissions. "The United States is opposed to any such discussions," Watson said. Washington has since 2002 embarked on a voluntary policy to reduce its emissions by 18 percent without harming the US economy, he said.