UNITED NATIONS
NATIONS UNIES

INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE
FOR A FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (INC/FCCC)

COMITÉ INTERGOUVERNEMENTAL DE NÉGOCIATION
D'UNE CONVENTION-CADRE SUR LES CHANGEMENTS CLIMATIQUES (CIN/CCCC)

Berlin Meeting to Focus on New Climate Change Negotiations

Berlin, 28 March 1995 -- Hundreds of government officials and political leaders are converging on Berlin today for the first post-Rio ministerial meeting on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Diplomats will work together during the first six days to advance the negotiations. During the final three days of 5 - 7 April, over 100 ministers and other high-level officials will seek to resolve any outstanding issues. They will then adopt formal decisions that will guide the international response to climate change for years to come. German Chancellor Helmut Kohl will address the ministers on 5 April.

One of the lead items on the agenda concerns the adequacy of commitments. The Convention calls for Annex I Parties (developed countries and countries with economies in transition) to take measures aimed at returning their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. The Parties must review whether this commitment is "adequate" for meeting the Convention's objective of stabilising "greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (man-made) interference with the climate system".

Governments have already agreed (at a February preparatory meeting) that this commitment is indeed "only a first step towards meeting the ultimate objective of the Convention". Most Parties now expect that there will be an agreement in Berlin to launch negotiations on new commitments for the post-2000 period, possibly in the form of a protocol.

"According to current scientific knowledge, the existing commitments will not solve the climate change problem," says German Environment Minister Angela Merkel. "Together with many other governments, we believe that the Convention should be strengthened through a comprehensive protocol containing concrete targets and timetables, as well as policies and measures, for all relevant greenhouse gases." Minister Merkel is expected to be elected President of the Conference.

Whether or not any new commitments should be limited to developed countries remains controversial. Another open question concerns the possibility of a pilot phase for joint implementation (JI). JI could allow one country to fulfil part of its commitment to mitigate climate change by making financial or technological transfers that would help limit emissions in another country. The discussion in Berlin will be based on position papers that have been submitted by the Group of 77 and China, the European Union, and the US.

These and other key issues were debated at the February preparatory meeting, which made progress on all but the thorniest problems. One basic issue not settled in February, however, was the rules of procedure, notably the kind of voting majorities that will be needed to adopt major decisions (such as protocols). Some Parties who believe that action to strengthen the Convention is still not justified argue that decisions on protocols should be adopted by consensus. Most, however, would rather base such decisions on voting majorities of, for example, three quarters.

The Berlin meeting, known formally as the First Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP-1), will also decide on the institutional arrangements needed to support the Convention. These include the designation of a permanent secretariat, its location and budget, and the work of the COP's two subsidiary bodies. The arrangements between the COP and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which is operating the Convention's financial "mechanism" on an interim basis, will be extended for up to four years.

"The Convention will come of age in Berlin", says Michael Zammit Cutajar, who as the Convention's Executive Secretary will call the meeting to order before handing the gavel to the newly elected President. "The Parties will have to shoulder their responsibilities and recognise that they must do more to meet the treaty's objective. Scientific uncertainty should not be an alibi. A key ingredient for success will be increased support from enlightened business interests capable of seeing that the economic opportunities ahead can outweigh the short-term costs."

Meanwhile, not far from the centre of diplomatic activity, various special events have been organised in support of the treaty. For example, mayors from cities big and small will attend the Second Municipal Leader's Summit on Climate Change from 27 - 29 March. The Earth Council (an international NGO set up after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to monitor the implementation of Agenda 21 and the other Rio commitments) will sponsor a public hearing on sustainable energy. Environmental groups are promoting a car-free Sunday and other awareness-raising activities.

The climate change treaty was agreed by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change (INC). The INC was established in 1990 as a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly and held its first session in February 1991. The Convention was finalised in time to be signed by 154 governments plus the EC (now the EU) at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It entered into force on 21 March 1994, three months after the first 50 countries had ratified it. The INC, which continued to meet in order to finalise the arrangements for the treaty's implementation, ceased to function on 17 February 1995 at the end of its eleventh session (the preparatory meeting referred to above). Governments continue to ratify the Convention, and, by the end of the Berlin COP, 117 governments plus the European Union will be eligible to vote as Parties.

The treaty negotiations were inspired by growing scientific understanding of the links between humanity's greenhouse gas emissions and the atmosphere's ability to absorb radiation from the sun. In 1988, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to assess the most up-to-date scientific and technical evidence. The IPCC's First Assessment Report, published in 1990, confirmed the scientific basis for climate change. It concluded that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are increasing and that, if this trend continues, it should lead to a warming of the earth?s surface. The IPCC also concluded that climate change could have highly destabilising effects on human society and would affect agriculture, forestry, natural eco-systems, water resources, human settlements, oceans, and coastal zones. The IPCC continues to advise governments on the state of ongoing research. It will publish its Second Assessment Report later this year.