Start talks for the next round of emission cuts now, says WWF

The global conservation organization warns that the impacts of climate change are hitting home already and negotiations at this level take time. As part of the Kyoto process, WWF says that negotiations must start now and 2008 has to be set as the clear end date for this process.

“The Kyoto Protocol actually demands that negotiations start now, not later,” says Jennifer Morgan, director of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme. “There has to be a formal decision and commitment by countries to negotiate more action and commitments for the future in order for people and nature to have a chance to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.”

In Montreal, industrialised countries must signal their willingness to reduce emissions much further and some developing countries must demonstrate their willingness to do their “fair share.” What that fair share is should be the topic of negotiations launched in Montreal and completed by 2008.

Delegates in Montreal who are attending the 11th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the first Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (held November 28 to December 9) must see that the emissions trading market is currently a business reality but investors need more certainty about its future.

Companies, banks and business are already working with emissions trading instruments, but current emissions targets only reach 2012. The global conservation organization warns that this is too short a horizon for investment decisions.

“If companies are to make the switch from dirty fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives they need to know that their CO2 emissions will be counted as a business cost after 2012,” says Stephan Singer, head of WWF’s European Climate and Energy Policy Unit. “If there’s one thing businesses and markets hate it’s not knowing what’s going to come in the future – the current climate of uncertainty is doing nobody any favours”.

WWF says that governments in Montreal must ensure that all decisions are adopted to make Kyoto operational and that funding is provided to help developing countries manage existing impacts.

All the decisions to make Kyoto work have already been negotiated but must now be formally adopted by the Kyoto Parties at this first meeting in Montreal. In addition, some States pledged funding to help developing countries manage the impacts that are already occurring and prepare for worse. This funding must be delivered.

“Governments must deliver on their promise to assist those countries most vulnerable to climate change in managing the impacts already occurring,” says Jennifer Morgan. “Only if such promises are kept will developed countries have any credibility with key developing countries.”