After pulling the plug earlier today on climate change negotiations, poor countries agreed to resume negotiations with the expectation that all issues would be up for discussion, including targets for greenhouse gas emissions under the existing Kyoto Protocol, which have proven to be contentious.
The global UN Conference on Climate Change at the start of its second week, was suspended for several hours Monday, following a boycott led by African countries and supported by 135 developing nations, including China and India.
The main bone of contention comes from poor countries believing that the rich would like to abandon the Kyoto Protocol which binds about 40 developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5.2 % below 1990 levels, by 2008-12.
Moreover, developing countries have said that they would like to see the 1997 Kyoto Protocol extended and a separate new arrangement fashioned for poor countries. But most rich countries want to merge Kyoto into a single new agreement which obligates all nations–developed and developing–to attack global warning.
With assurances that all issues would be put on the table and that there was no plan to scuttle the items under the Kyoto Protocol, poor countries returned to the negotiating table later on Monday.
Some conference participants viewed the hiatus as regrettable, in view of the limited time left for a draft agreement to be worked out.
In particular, Canada’s Environment Minister, Jim Prentice expressed the view that negotiations were set back owing to the dispute.
“We have lost some time. There is no doubt about that,” Prentice said. “It is not particularly helpful, but all in all it is our responsibility to get on with it and continue to negotiate.”
The international climate change conference which is taking place in Copenhagen, is being attended by 192 nations. Some 110 heads of state and government are expected to participate in the final two days of the conference.
