*Plan to integrate Copenhagen Accord...UN*

***De Boer confirms plan to integrate Copenhagen Accord in UN climate text.

Outgoing head of UN's climate secretariat outlines agenda for crucial Bonn climate meeting


*Outgoing UN climate change chief Yvo de Boer yesterday confirmed that the extent to which parts of the Copenhagen Accord should be included in the formal UN negotiating process would form a central part of the agenda at the climate talks in Bonn next month.

The latest summit, which will run from Monday 31 May to Wednesday 9 June, represents the first major UN climate meeting since the end of the Copenhagen summit and observers have warned that significant progress is required if there is to be any chance of delivering a draft international deal at the Cancun summit in November.

Speaking yesterday, de Boer, who will step down after the Bonn meeting to be replaced by Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres, said the chair of the Long Term Co-operative Action (LCA) UN working group would table a "new text that integrates parts of the Copenhagen Accord", adding that the meeting could " significantly enhance that text".

The status of the Copenhagen Accord has been one of the main sticking points for the long-running negotiations since the end of the Copenhagen summit, with richer nations arguing that it provides a better framework for a binding deal than the existing Kyoto Protocol and poorer nations warning that any move away from the Kyoto Framework risks resulting in a weaker agreement.

De Boer said governments needed to "act now to develop greater clarity on the future of the Kyoto Protocol, since this cannot be left unattended until Cancun ".

He reiterated his view that Cancun could deliver meaningful progress towards a binding international treaty, but only if rich nations provide evidence that they are making good on their commitment to provide $30bn (£21bn) of fast-track climate funding to poorer nations, and all countries deliver progress on emissions targets and the mechanisms for ensuring they are met.

He also warned that the Copenhagen Accord "set a political intent to keep temperature rises below two degrees Centigrade, yet existing industrial country pledges to cut emissions will not meet this goal".

De Boer's comments came as one of China's top climate change officials, Xie Zhenhua, confirmed for the first time that China is targeting the UN climate meeting in South Africa in late 2011 for the completion of any international treaty.

UN and EU officials have already signalled that they do not expect a deal to be finalised in Cancun, and Xie endorsed that view yesterday, confirming that the best that could be hoped for in Cancun was progress towards a deal.

However, in a sign that progress could indeed be delivered, India yesterday published its first full greenhouse gas emissions report in more than a decade.

The report, which was based on 2007 data, showed that greenhouse emissions from the electricity, cement and waste sectors have more than doubled, while other sectors have also seen significant increases.

The move is potentially significant as transparent reporting of greenhouse gas emissions emerged as one of the most contentious issues at last year's Copenhagen summit, with the US insisting that countries submit to independent verification of emission performance and countries such as China arguing that such a move would represent an infringement of a country's sovereignty.

James Murray,
BusinessGreen,
26 May 2010

Bien à vous,

Morgane BRAVO