Climate Talks Continue in Lyon
Copyright © 2000, PRNewswire
September 8, 2000
LYON, France, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Negotiations to combat global climate change will begin again next week in Lyon, France as diplomats from more than 140 countries gather to work on refinements to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This session of the negotiations, known as the 13th Meetings of the Subsidiary Bodies, will provide a final check on where governments stand before the World Conference on Climate Change, to be held in The Hague during November 2000.
At the 1997 Kyoto climate conference developed countries agreed to reduce their overall emissions of greenhouses gases to around 5% below 1990 levels over the period 2008-2012. Several outstanding issues remain with regards to the financial implications of meeting these targets and how countries, especially poorer ones, will manage the future effects of global climate change. Progress on issues, such as how emissions trading will work in practice, must be must be made next week to help ensure success at negotiations in The Hague in November.
Achieving balance in the negotiations will be a formidable task for the negotiators in Lyon, where the different positions must be reconciled in order for the negotiations to take necessary steps forward. These differences are mainly centered on who will bear the brunt of the financial burden of reducing greenhouse gases and who will benefit from implementing activities that aim to reduce these gases.
In addition to the negotiations to take place in Lyon, scientists and representatives of both industry and environmental groups will gather to present research findings, publications and hold activities and events such as public education efforts for raising awareness about climate change or recent technology developments. These side events and exhibits provide an important balance to overall negotiations.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is providing in-depth on-line coverage of the Lyon climate conference at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/sb13/ , with a special Press Resources Center for SB-13 at http://www.iisd.ca/climate/sb13/press.html . To subscribe to free daily 2000 word summaries from the negotiations, write to lyris@lists.iisd.ca with the one line "subscribe enb" or "subscribe enb-pdf."
Contact: Langston George Goree of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, 212-644-0217