With the start of the crucial High-Level segment of the Climate Change Conference in Bali only a day away, agreement has been reached on several important issues under discussion. Of special note was a decision which heralds the launch of the Kyoto Protocol’s Adaptation Fund, set up to finance concrete adaptation projects in developing country Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. Parties agreed on the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as the secretariat and the World Bank as trustee of the Fund, which will become operational with the start of the Protocol’s first commitment period in 2008.

Meanwhile, continuing speculation on the issue of emission reduction targets prompted a detailed clarification from UNFCCC Secretary Yvo de Boer. “25%-40% by 2020 is an emission reduction range, it’s not a target, and it’s something that governments said earlier this year they should be guided by in the context of the negotiations,” he said, adding that “contrary to some reports, these figures do not prejudge the outcome of the negotiations.”

Mr. de Boer continued, ”this range does not represent concrete emmission reduction targets for industrialized countries and this conference will not produce an agreement on specific targets per country,” pointing out that this was not what it had set out to do. What it did aim to achieve, he explained, was to set the wheels in motion in terms of launching a process going into the future.

In addition to the Adaptation Fund, measurable progress has also been made on the issue of carbon capture and storage (CCS), with Parties considering for the first time the possible inclusion of CCS in geological formations as an acitvity under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) This is particularly significant for countries expected to rely strongly on the use of coal in the future, since CCS is widely regarded as an important technology to enable continued use of fossil fuels in a clean way.

A third significant decision has been taken which involves doubling the size limit of small-scale afforesation and reforestation projects to 16 kilotons of CO2 per year. Mr. de Boer explained that in addition to expanding the geographical scope of the Clean Development Mechanism, this would also enable countries without a strong economic base and energy sector, such as many African countries and smaller developing states, to nonetheless profit from the CDM.

Mr. de Boer also expressed his congratulations to Al Gore and the IPCC on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo yesterday. “It’s great news for our process and will provide a huge momentum for action on climate change,” he said, adding that the work of the IPCC would continue to inform the process. This included scientifically sound emission reduction ranges in order to achieve stabilization of emissions in the atmosphere and thus limit the global average temperature increase.