Secretary General Unveils 20th Anniversary Of Kyoto Protocol

Josephine Naaeke, GNA Correspondent, Bonn, Sponsored by the Stanley Foundation, USA

Bonn, Nov. 16 - The Kyoto Protocol, the first international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, celebrates its twentieth anniversary on December 11 2017, maintaining itself as an essential vehicle for developed countries to reduce rapidly your emissions.

António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations told leaders and delegates when he opened the high-level segment of the UN conference on climate change, COP23 in Bonn.

His message came a day after Germany, Belgium, Spain and Sweden became the last countries to ratify the Doha Amendment, which established the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol.

"On this twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol and the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on Climate Change, I ask all nations that have not yet done so to ratify the Doha Amendment," said Mr. Guterres.

According to him the Doha Amendment covers the period before 2020, which is central to the overall effort to get on track to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement.

To date, 88 Parties have accepted the Doha Amendment which, in order to enter into force, must have been accepted by at least 144 of the 192 parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

To celebrate the anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol and encourage more Parties to ratify the Doha Amendment, UN Climate Change is launching a campaign on social networks ahead of the 20th anniversary of the protocol people to send support messages.

'People can take selfies, alone, with their friends or family with posters that say "I love the Kyoto Protocol" and publish them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with the hashtag "ILoveKyotoProtocol".

"In 1997, we achieved a historic agreement with the Kyoto Protocol and its measurable reduction targets." The 20th anniversary of that agreement next month is something worth recognizing, "added the president of the COP23, the Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama.

With the Kyoto Protocol, emission reduction commitments were set for developed countries. It was adopted on December 11, 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, and entered into force on February 16, 2005.

During their first commitment period, from 2008 to 2012, 37 industrialised countries and the European Community (an organization that is also a Party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change), agreed to assume a leading role in climate action by reducing their average emissions above 5 percent compared to 1990 levels.

The final reductions exceeded 20 percent "I am sure that the Kyoto Protocol was fundamental to achieve this exceptional result: Kyoto was a source of inspiration, innovation and an example of the economic logic of betting on renewable energy, energy efficiency, new technologies, reduction of pollution and new carbon markets that emerged in developed countries in this period to start accelerating later, "said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change.

"Thanks to the Kyoto Protocol, we do not start from scratch and we know that we have solutions to meet the Paris goal, but only if we now act together to get further, faster, with the leadership of emissions reduction in the developed nations" she added.