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January 2010 – post Copenhagen and the future of the Kyoto Protocol

Post Copenhagen Climate Conference

For the first time in months, there is no official UN meeting on the calendar this month. Instead, the process will work to digest the recent events of the last few months, including the massive UN summit that produced the meagre three-page Copenhagen Accord last month. Can the process build on the momentum from late 2009 despite the disappointing meetings in Copenhagen? Stay tuned.

Paving the way to a climate change treaty

Negotiations from December’s United Nations Climate Change summit failed to meet even downplayed expectations for a political deal that would significantly pave the way toward a legally binding agreement this year. The lack of success at the Copenhagen talks assured at least one thing: the stakes are even higher in 2010.

The game plan for 2010 has yet to be worked out. As things stand now, the UN calendar includes just two official meetings, compared to nine last year. More meetings may be in the cards. Officially, the goal of the process remains finalising a legally- binding deal as soon as possible, but could significant progress come from outside the UN process? The coming weeks and months will reveal the answers.

Looking back at the Kyoto Protocol

While in Copenhagen, veteran French negotiator Brice Lalonde, his country’s climate change ambassador,spoke to Climate-Change.tv about the steps needed for a binding agreement to emerge in 2010. As a delegate in the talks behind the Kyoto Protocol back in 1997, he insightfully compares the current process with the one in Japan more than a dozen years ago.

Whatever happens, Climate-Change.tv will be there bringing you video interviews with key players in the climate change debate. Please keep checking back for updates.