Download Draft resolution II for the Working group on further commitments

COPENHAGEN AMENDMENT
TO THE KYOTO PROTOCOL
(Draft)
MODEL UNITED NATIONS
HAMBURG 2009
COPENHAGEN AMENDMENT TO THE KYOTO PROTOCOL
The Parties of this Protocol,
Being Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, hereinafter
referred to as “the Convention”
Building upon the outcome of the Kyoto Protocol,
Extending the original Kyoto Protocol to the Convention with this Amendment,
Recalling the provisions of the Convention,
Seeing that scientific findings of the last IPCC report present further evidence that the main
cause of observed global warming is associated with increasing human activity,
Being guided by the goal of Article 3 of the Convention to prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system,
Underlining that this leads to a to a target to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius,
Recognizing that annual CO2 emissions of the world and applying the goal of halving the
worldwide GHG emissions means the reference value for the CO2 emission per capita is 2.5
tons CO2 per year,
Pointing out that countries in semi-arid areas will be heavily affected by climate change and
that accelerated desertification caused by climate change needs to be addressed not only as a
national but also as an international development issue,
Realizing that losses by desertification will significantly affect the agricultural production in a
yearly order of magnitude of several billions of dollars and non-monetary losses should also be
taken into account as lots of people will lose their primary source of livelihood,
Emphasizing the importance of worldwide forest areas, including tropical rain forests and
boreal forests, as one of the most important carbon sinks,
Pointing out that several developing countries already suffer severely from climate change, for
example from droughts and floods, sea level rise, melting glaciers,
Stressing the point that those countries mostly affected by climate change did contribute least to
the current CO2 concentration in the Atmosphere,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
For the purpose of the Protocol, the definitions contained in Article 1 of the Convention shall
apply. For the purpose of this Protocol Amendment the definitions contained in Article 1 of the
Kyoto Protocol. In addition:
1).“Parties” means, unless the context otherwise indicates, a Party of this Protocol
2). “Kyoto Protocol” means the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change, 1998 without the proposed changes of this Amendment
3).“CO2“ means carbon dioxide.
Article 2
The Parties included Annex I continue to take the lead in combating climate change referring to
Article 10 in the Kyoto Protocol.
Article 3
The division of countries as originally laid down in the UNFCC is obsolete. We propose a new
system to group countries according to the increasing global demand for emission reduction
commitments. Countries listed in Annex B are those committed to emission reduction.
Countries listed in the new Annex C are those committed to increasing energy efficiency.
Countries listed in Annex D are those committed to other CO2 reduction measures , for
example stopping deforestation.
Article 4
Short-term commitments for more countries in addition to Annex B countries in Article 3 will
be negotiated during the next Conference of the Parties for the 2020 time horizon. These
reduction commitments replace the commitments until 2012 fixed in Article 3 of the Kyoto
Protocol.
Article 5
In addition to the emission reductions until 2020 of Article 3 and 4 of this Protocol, ‘Climate
Justice’ will be made a normative long-term objective of every Party, meaning that the per
capita globally averaged emissions shall reach 2.5 tons per year until 2050 in order to meet the
sustainable emission target.
Article 6
The Parties suggest that a new body within the United Nations should be installed – the United
Nations Environmental Organization (UNEO) that controls organisational, financial and
technological transfer mechanisms and supports the Secretariat of the Convention in order to
control the emission monitoring and trading.
Article 7
Flexibility mechanisms to mitigate emissions that extend the already existing Clean
Development Mechanisms of Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol,the mechanism of Joint
Implementation referred to in Article 6 of the Kyoto Protocol and emission trading should
remain in place and their use should be further encouraged.
Article 8
Countries that are willing and able to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation
should be financially compensated for doing so. This is a task for the UNEO as defined in
Article 6 of this Amendment.
Article 9
Each Party shall submit a national action plan including policies and measures for mitigation
including quantified elements to the extend possible.
Article 10
A common system for the estimation of what counts as anthropogenic emission must be
established by all Parties.
Article 11
The information submitted shall be transparent and revised regularly. The information
submitted should be reviewed by expert review teams selected from those nominated by the
parties.
Article 12
Developed countries should continue to enhance their cooperation with developing countries, as
explained in Article 10 of the Kyoto Protocl. Additionally, the Parties agree that this requires
the development of national action plans for all Parties.
Article 13
The Parties agree that in order to support immediate and future adaptation and mitigation
actions, financial support of 100 billion USD per year is needed for the time period to 2020.
The UNEO as defined in Article 6 is supposed to supervise the fund raising and money
distribution of this financial instrument. This fund shall consist of equal contributions from the
private and the public sectors of the developed countries. The European Union commits itself to
a burden of at least 20 % of the public sector fund. The United States of America also commit
themselves to a burden of at least 20 % of the fund. The remaining up to 60 % of the fund shall
be contributed by the developed countries; the rest of the world community will contribute on a
voluntary basis. The details of the funding process have to be open to further negotiations.
Article 14
Articles 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 of the Kyoto Protocol shall be
still valid in the amended version of this Protocol.
Article 15
All Parties of the Convention that are not in the groups defined in the Annex shall regularly reevaluate their status and should join the aforementioned Annex's as their economic development
progresses.
Annex A
The definitions of Greenhouse gases and Sectors / source categories is taken from Annex A of
the Kyoto Protocol
Annex B:
In addition to the general obligation following Article 3 the following countries have committed
to reduce their emissions at least to the following emission levels in percent at 2020 compared
to 1990
Russian Federation 75, France 70, Federal Republic of Germany 60, Japan 75, Ukraine 80,
Federative Republic of Brazil 70 *, United States of America 83 *, Canada 80 *,
Commonwealth of Australia 75 +
* compared to 2005, + conditional
Annex C:
The following countries have committed to a reduction in emission intensity (greenhouse gas
emission per gross domestic product) by 2020:
Russian Federation 60, French Republic 80, Federal Republic of Germany 80, Islamic Republic
of Iran 60, Republic of India 70, Republic of South Africa 60 *, People's Republic of China 55
Argentine Republic, Ukraine to be specified
* With financial help
Annex D:
The following countries have committed to reduction of CO2 emissions by various methods:
Argentina: no more deforestation.