Global General

Kyoto Protocol needs more commitment

By Lan Lan and Dong Wei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-10-09 21:50

Tianjin - Governments must ensure "an open door" for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, said Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on Saturday.

Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change receives exclusive interview with China Daily on the sideline of the UN climate meeting in Tianjin October 9, 2010.  [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

"It's very (important) that Cancun needs to assure that the door is open for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, that has become clear this week," Figueres told China Daily after the six-day climate change meeting in Tianjin.

Some developed countries spoke against a second period of pollution reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol during the Tianjin meeting. The first period of the Kyoto Protocol will expire in 2012.

To achieve a balanced package of solutions in the upcoming UN Climate Change meeting in Cancun, negotiations need to balance progress under the convention with progress under the Kyoto Protocol, Figueres said.

She said there had been some progress at the Tianjin meeting.

But, from a logistics point of view, it was "a meeting without a glitch," Figueres said.