DURBAN: As Durban gets ready for ministerial deliberations at the climate change talks, the European Union is considering a range of options to ensure that global effort on tackling climate change doesn't come to a standstill. The European Union came into the Durban climate talks saying that it would not sign on to another period of legally mandated emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol till all countries agreed to be brought under a new global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
While the EU continues to hold that position, there has been some reworking over the first week of talks in the South African port city. EU negotiators now say that they are looking for "reassurances" for a "road map" to a global climate treaty.
EU's lead negotiator Arturo Runge-Metzger said: "Many countries see the goal of keeping the warming to 2 degrees requires a good action. Many parties can see that waiting until 2015 or longer to start discussing the next steps will simply be too late. This process takes time." India has responded to the European Union's call seeking "mutual reassurance".
"We have to mutually reassure each other and embark on such kind of decisions that will be acceptable to all of us," India's lead negotiator JM Mauskar said. One possibility is that the while the rules under the Kyoto protocol are agreed upon, officially the second commitment period for the agreement will only come into force once a new legally binding treaty for all countries is adopted.
In the intervening period, an arrangement for interim application will be made. Another option is a phased implementation option. In the first phase, countries will agree to accept and apply the rules of the Protocol and implement emission reduction targets. This will be effective from January 2013, that is immediately after the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol comes to an end in December 2012.
The second phase, that is the formal adoption and ratification of the Protocol's new commitment period, will happen at the same time as the legally binding agreement for all countries is adopted. This option draws on the Marrakesh agreement, which set the basis for the clean development mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol.
The Marrakesh agreement isn't legally binding treaty like the Kyoto Protocol but a decision taken by Conference of parties or the general assembly of all member countries. This agreement forms the basis on which the carbon market under the Protocol functions.
Other possibilities include a declaration of intent to apply the rules and targets of the Kyoto protocol and the continuation of negotiations over the future of the Kyoto protocol and the possibility of a global treaty. EU officials say that securing agreement in Durban on negotiating a new deal is "possible, but challenging".
Despite opposing the European Union's categorical linking of the future of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol with a decision on a new treaty covering major emitters, advanced developing countries like India and China have shown a willingness to engage.