‘Kyoto Protocol murder will kill Copenhagen deal’

Bangkok: The gridlock at Bangkok climate negotiations worsened on Tuesday with key G77 members, including India and China, indicating that the “murder” of Kyoto Protocol could end up killing prospects of a deal at Copenhagen. The Kyoto Protocol converts the principles of “common but differentiated responsibilities” from the mother UN convention into quantified emission reduction targets for industrialised countries. The EU, which till date had been goading the US to put up targets under Kyoto, instead began to sidestep the issue of its own emission reduction targets for the mid term.

For the Indian delegation, the Obama administration’s decision to follow the Bush regime and refuse to sign on to Kyoto did not come as a great surprise. But, then came the Uturn by EU — a grouping that has always sought to gain the “leadership” role at climate talks. “The end of Kyoto Protocol is not acceptable to us. It is a legal pact with rights and duties for all member countries. A handful of countries wanting to abrogate their duties cannot kill it on their whim,” said a senior Indian official at Bangkok. TNN