At the longest climate conference on record, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) were able to make significant progress towards a global deal at COP17 in Durban, South Africa. By the end of the meeting, the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action was agreed to by 190 nations with the intention to “develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under UNFCCC” to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to climate change. While the Durban Platform should be signed and submitted no later than 2015, the actual implementation would not likely come into force until 2020. One of the most significant results of the Durban Platform was a redrawing of the 1992 OECD-based developing/developed country categorization. With no mention of the coveted phrase that nations have “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities,” all nations including those developing ones like China and India will be covered under a legally-binding agreement. For a comprehensive overview of The Durban Platform, take a few minutes to watch the coverage by EnergyNow…

Kyoto Protocol

In addition to a roadmap for a more comprehensive climate treaty, the EU and nine other nations also pledged to take new emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol that will enter into force in 2013. While only ~15% of total global GHG emissions will now be covered, it was a very significant outcome that was crucial to call Durban a success. On the opposing side, both Japan and Russia have said they will not sign up to a second committment period while Canada has pulled out of Kyoto all together. The jury is still out on what Australia and New Zealand plan to do. It has yet to be determined whether the new targets will extend out to 2017 or 2020.

Green Climate Fund

Parties also agreed upon the structure for a new international Green Climate Fund (GCF) that will raise $100 billion a year by 2020. Leading up to this, the recommendations presented by the Transitional Committee set up at COP16 in Cancun were welcomed. While making progress on design issues of the GCF was important, delegates failed to find a way forward on actually capitalizing the fund. Along these lines, the suggestion to place a tax on international shipping emissions did not materialize at the negotiations due to opposition from U.S. and others.

Market Mechanisms

The fate of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was secured at COP17 with the extension of the Kyoto Protocol thanks in large part to the European Union. In other related news, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects will now qualify for offset credits under the CDM. The other Kyoto project-based mechanism, namely Joint Implementation (JI), has not yet been extended beyond 2012. More broadly, parties agreed to define a new market mechanism (NMM) that will be central in a future climate treaty. Delegates will shoot to prepare recommendations at COP18 for NMMs such as:

-Sector-based crediting under the CDM
-Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)
-Japan’s Bilateral Offset Crediting Mechanism (BOCM)
-Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+)

REDD+

Well received by the private sector, parties agreed that “appropriate market-based approaches” to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) can in fact be developed. In other REDD+ news, it was decided that joint mitigation and adaptation approaches could be developed to support future projects. While making the role of markets explicit was significant, there was little progress on rules and measures in Durban to ensure the environmental integrity of a REDD+ mechanism.

For U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern’s perspective on progress at Durban, here’s an extended interview conducted by Tyler Suiters from EnergyNow after the conference…