Reaching an international agreement on climate change

The agreement of the Bali roadmap charted a course for negotiations on a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2012. Uncertainties remain, however, about the pace and eventual outcome of the negotiations. A post-2012 agreement will only be a success if it is guided by the science, which warns that developed countries must reduce emissions by 25-40% by 2020 and 80-95% by 2050.

Most developing countries are not required to reduce emissions but will need to commit to certain actions that will limit the growth of, and eventually stabilise, their emissions. The Committee believes that the targets for, and commitment to actions by, developing countries are the minimum that the UK and European Union should accept in the negotiations. Diplomacy will be key in helping to reach agreement on the effort required and the UK Government will have to work closely with developing countries to explore the actions that they might be willing to commit to.

United Kingdom: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee: 6th Report (2007-08)HC 355 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmenvaud/355/355.pdf

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