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Geneva, 9 December 1996 - Representatives from 150 governments meeting here this week are preparing for the final phase of talks on how developed countries will cut their greenhouse gas emissions after the year 2000.

As the work on analyzing the various possible options draws to a close, negotiators will start discussing the specific elements to be included in a future "protocol or another legal instrument" under the Climate Change Convention. The resulting text is to be adopted in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan.

While the timetable for preparing a negotiating text is still uncertain, in their Geneva Declaration last July ministers instructed "their representatives to accelerate negotiations on the text of a legally-binding protocol or another legal instrument to be completed in due time for adoption at the third session of the Conference of the Parties" next year in Kyoto.

"It is time to start drafting the Kyoto accord, focusing on the main ingredients of a package that will send strong economic signals to investors and consumers", says Michael Zammit Cutajar, the Convention's Executive Secretary. "Not all of the proposals on the table can be worked out in detail in the year that remains, but some of them could form the basis for continuing negotiations after Kyoto."

The talks on stronger commitments for developed countries will take place from 9-13 December within the Ad hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate (AGBM). They will be based largely on a series of proposals submitted by governments, including Australia, Gambia, Germany, Ireland (on behalf of the EC), Japan, Norway, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain (on behalf of the EC), Switzerland, the UK, the US, and Zaire. (A synthesis of these proposals and the original country proposals themselves are available at Door 40 as documents FCCC/AGBM/1996/10 and Misc.2/Add. 1-3.)

One issue for delegates will be "Quantified Emissions Limitation and Reduction Objectives", or QELROs. The main points are the levels of emissions reduction, whether or not the objectives should be legally binding, and what should be the base and target years. Proposals include a) a 20 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2005 with reference to 1990 levels; b) a 10 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2005 and a 15-20 per cent reduction by 2010, both against the base year of 1990; and c) a 5 to 10 per cent reduction in all gases by 2010 compared to 1990. Some proposals allow for countries to have different national targets which would add up to an overall desired result. Developed countries are currently committed to taking measures aimed at returning their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000.

Officials will also discuss the specific policies and measures that could be included in the new commitments. Two general approaches have been discussed: a "menu approach", under which developed countries choose amongst a detailed list of policies and measures according to their national circumstances, and a mandatory approach requiring certain common and/or coordinated policies and measures.

Various governments have suggested that policies and measures could be implemented through regulations, economic instruments, voluntary agreements, education and training, research, information and advice programmes, or performance indicators. Some of the many policy options include a CO₂ or energy tax, energy efficiency standards, consumption-based accounting for heating and air conditioning, lowering the average fuel consumption of cars to five litres per 100 km, dismantling the petrol tax exemption for aircraft fuel, and establishing internationally agreed criteria for the conservation and sustainable development of forests (which are an important carbon "sink").

In addition to the AGBM, the Convention's other subsidiary bodies will also be meeting to discuss several processes vital to the Convention's work. The Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) will meet from 16-18 December. It will examine various methodological concerns in order to clarify the rules of the game for how countries should account for their efforts to implement the Convention. These rules will be the linchpin of any future agreement, ensuring that the new quantitative commitments can be rigorously monitored and verified.

One methodological issue is how and when to start using the "Revised 1996 Guidelines" by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Countries can use these guidelines for estimating emissions from various sources when preparing their "national communications". Another issue is the need for a uniform reporting format for evaluating the effectiveness of Activities Implemented Jointly under the current pilot phase.

The Ad hoc Group on Article 13 (AG13) will also be meeting from the 16^th to 18^th. Delegates will continue to explore issues relating to the implementation of commitments.

The Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) will meet from 10-11 December to review a Memorandum of Understanding between the Conference of the Parties to the Convention and the Global Environment Facility (which provides funds to help developing countries meet their treaty commitments).

The Climate Change Convention was adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It entered into force on 21 March 1994 and has been ratified by over 160 countries.

The next series of meetings will be held in Bonn from 24 February to 7 March. COP-3 will take place in Kyoto, Japan from 1-12 December.

Note to journalists: A press briefing will be announced. For more information, please contact Michael Williams at (41-22) 979 9242/44, fax (41-22) 797 3464, e-mail mwilliams@unep.ch. Official documents are available at Door 40 and on the Web at http://www.unfccc.de.